Norman Oliver

• University of Virginia

Total knee replacement (TKR) is a cost-effective treatment option for severe osteoarthritis (OA). While prevalence of OA is higher among blacks than whites, TKR rates are lower among blacks. Physicians' implicit preferences might explain racial differences in TKR recommendation. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the magnitude of i...

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is typically diagnosed based on abnormalities in specific clustered clinical measures that are associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, current MetS criteria result in racial/ethnic discrepancies. Our goals were to use confirmatory factor analysis (CF...

The United States is home to 300000 refugees from around the world, with 69000 from 51 African countries. Refugees face significant challenges in accessing quality health care and present challenges to clinicians and medical institutions in providing care. There is limited published literature on health disparities experienced by African refugees w...

This study estimated and compared rates of emotional, developmental and behavioural (EDB) problems among children with chronic health conditions. Rates of EDB problems were estimated using data from the 2005-2007 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. The National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) 2003 was used to provide nati...

Background: In the United States, prostate cancer incidence is higher among black than among white males, with a higher proportion of blacks diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer. Methods: Prostate cancer incidence (1999-2001) and census tract data were obtained for 66,468 cases in four states that account for 20% of U.S. blacks: Georgia, Florida, A...

To assess the statistical relationship between stage at diagnosis of prostate cancer and racial category in 4 southeastern states. Data from state cancer registries in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Maryland were analyzed using a hierarchical generalized linear model to adjust for both patient-level characteristics and area-based measures of socio...

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate a culturally tailored intervention for rural African Americans. Social Cognitive Theory provided the framework for the study. Twenty-two participants were recruited and randomly assigned to either Group or Individual diabetes self-management (DSME). Group DSME included story-telling, hands-on activiti...

Public reports that compare hospital mortality rates for patients with acute myocardial infarction are commonly used strategies for improving the quality of care delivered to these patients. Fair comparisons of hospital mortality rates require thorough adjustments for differences among patients in baseline mortality risk. This study examines the ef...

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of family and friends on the management of persons with diabetes and their willingness to be involved in a culturally tailored program. This qualitative study was based within a larger quasi-experimental study that focused on the impact of a culturally tailored group intervention compared with ind...

Purpose: Estimates of life expectancy are essential to prostate cancer treatment decision making, and comorbid diseases are important independent predictors of patient life expectancy after diagnosis. Adaptations of the Charlson index have been commonly used to measure differences in comorbid disease in studies that examine mortality risk. Prior st...

Objective: Describe selection bias in GIS analyses with unrepresentative data owing to missing geocodes. Design: Spatial analysis of prostate cancer incidence among whites and African Americans in Virginia, 1990-1999, using the Virginia Cancer Registry. Outcome measures: Statistical tests for clustering were performed and mapped. The patterns of mi...

Hospital mortality outcomes for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients are a focus of quality improvement programs conducted by government agencies. AMI mortality risk-adjustment models using administrative data typically adjust for baseline differences in mortality risk with a limited set of common and definite comorbidities. In this study, we...

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes among non-Hispanic African American adults aged 20 years and older is 11.4%, compared to 8.4% non-Hispanic whites. Given the high rate of diabetes in this population, it is important to determine whether African Americans use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and if so, what kind. Such information is im...

This study about maternal feeding practices and beliefs was conducted as background for the development of a childhood obesity prevention program for multi-ethnic parents in the USA receiving services from a federal government supplemental nutrition program for low-income mothers. Using a grounded theory approach, focus groups were conducted with l...

The specific aims of this study were to describe the experience of self-managing type 2 diabetes among rural dwelling African Americans, to identify facilitators and barriers to self-management, to describe the use of prescribed and alternative therapies, and to elicit recommendations for programs of diabetes care. Ten focus groups were held in 3 r...

Racial disparities exist in prostate cancer incidence. An important contributor to these disparities may be socioeconomic status. Virginia Cancer Registry data, 1990-1999 (37,373 cases) were geocoded to the Census tract and county level. The annualized, age-adjusted incidence rates for African Americans and whites were calculated, and crude and smo...

This article describes geographic bias in GIS analyses with unrepresentative data owing to missing geocodes, using as an example a spatial analysis of prostate cancer incidence among whites and African Americans in Virginia, 1990-1999. Statistical tests for clustering were performed and such clusters mapped. The patterns of missing census tract ide...

Mortality risk adjustment is a key component of studies that examine the statistical relationship between hospital lung cancer operation volume and in-hospital mortality. Previous studies of this relationship have used different methods of adjusting for factors that influence mortality risk, but none have adjusted for differences in comorbid diseas...

Panic disorder with or without agoraphobia occurs commonly in patients in primary care settings. This article assesses multiple evidence-based reviews of effective treatments for panic disorder. Antidepressant medications successfully reduce the severity of panic symptoms and eliminate panic attacks. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tric...

Racial and ethnic inequities in health abound in many disease categories. African-American communities suffer from an increased burden of illness, with higher incidence and mortality rates and more severe morbidity in cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, several cancers, diabetes, and many other ailments. Healthy People 2010, the federal governm...

Racial and ethnic disparities in mortality have been demonstrated in several diseases. African Americans are hospitalized at a significantly higher rate than whites for aspiration pneumonia; however, no studies have investigated racial and ethnic disparities in mortality in this population. To assess the independent effect of race and ethnicity on...

To use diagnoses reported as present at admission in California hospital discharge abstract data to identify categories of comorbid disease and conditions related to aspiration pneumonia and to assess their association with hospital mortality. The study population included all persons hospitalized in California from 1996 through 1999, with a princi...

Not all patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis require surgery. Nearly half of patients with symptomatic but uncomplicated gallstone disease can be managed successfully with observation and minor dietary changes. This option is a safe one we can offer our patients.

Manuscript copy. Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida.