Browsing by Author "Rivenbark, Joshua"

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    Birth Prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease and County-Level Social Vulnerability - Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, 11 States, 2016-2020.
    (MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 2024-03) Kayle, Mariam; Blewer, Audrey L; Pan, Wei; Rothman, Jennifer A; Polick, Carri S; Rivenbark, Joshua; Fisher, Elliott; Reyes, Camila; Strouse, John J; Weeks, Shelby; Desai, Jay R; Snyder, Angela B; Zhou, Mei; Sutaria, Ankit; Valle, Jhaqueline; Horiuchi, Sophia S; Sontag, Marci K; Miller, Joshua I; Singh, Ashima; Dasgupta, Mahua; Janson, Isaac A; Galadanci, Najibah; Reeves, Sarah L; Latta, Krista; Hurden, Isabel; Cromartie, Shamaree J; Plaxco, Allison P; Mukhopadhyay, Ayesha; Smeltzer, Matthew P; Hulihan, Mary
    Sickle cell disease (SCD) remains a public health priority in the United States because of its association with complex health needs, reduced life expectancy, lifelong disabilities, and high cost of care. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to calculate the crude and race-specific birth prevalence for SCD using state newborn screening program records during 2016-2020 from 11 Sickle Cell Data Collection program states. The percentage distribution of birth mother residence within Social Vulnerability Index quartiles was derived. Among 3,305 newborns with confirmed SCD (including 57% with homozygous hemoglobin S or sickle β-null thalassemia across 11 states, 90% of whom were Black or African American [Black], and 4% of whom were Hispanic or Latino), the crude SCD birth prevalence was 4.83 per 10,000 (one in every 2,070) live births and 28.54 per 10,000 (one in every 350) non-Hispanic Black newborns. Approximately two thirds (67%) of mothers of newborns with SCD lived in counties with high or very high levels of social vulnerability; most mothers lived in counties with high or very high levels of vulnerability for racial and ethnic minority status (89%) and housing type and transportation (64%) themes. These findings can guide public health, health care systems, and community program planning and implementation that address social determinants of health for infants with SCD. Implementation of tailored interventions, including increasing access to transportation, improving housing, and advancing equity in high vulnerability areas, could facilitate care and improve health outcomes for children with SCD.
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    How Social Status Permeates Inequalities in Health: Three Studies on Experiences of Social Disadvantage
    (2020) Rivenbark, Joshua

    The social gradient of health is pervasive and unrelenting. Across nearly any layer of society – race, religion, economic standing, or others – the populations worst off in terms health are also the most socially disadvantaged. Over three studies, this dissertation examines some of the experiences that underlie the connection between social disadvantage and health, namely internalized perceptions of status, interpersonal interactions, and institutional actions. The first study examines the link between adolescents’ perceived social status and their mental health at a range of ages, identifying at what age mental health problems begin to track perceptions of status, as well as contextual factors that do (or do not) relate to perceptions of status. In the second study, data from a nationally representative survey in France are used to document rates of reporting discrimination within the healthcare setting by gender, immigrant status, race/ethnicity, and religion. Rates of foregoing medical care are also documented across the same groups, and the potential explanatory role of discrimination toward disparities in foregone care is then investigated. The third and final study looks at the role of institutional stigma, using state bans of Sharia law in the USA as an exemplary case of stigmatizing policies with minimal material consequences. National birth record data for the USA is used, and the variation in policy enactment over time and space is leveraged to examine birth outcomes for Muslim women who were pregnant at the time their state passed a ban. Findings reveal a decrease in the secondary sex ratio to targeted women, suggesting the stigmatizing policy acts as a population-level stressor with consequences for maternal health.