19th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 8-10, 2020 • Kansas City, MO
CMV Awareness – What are we really measuring?
Even though CMV infection in mothers is preventable, most people are not familiar with the virus. Levels of CMV awareness amongst women in the general population range from 9%-20%, globally, as measured by self-reported responses to questionnaires. Some studies have shown a statistically significant increase in women’s awareness with higher levels of education, or work experience in health care. However, most work on CMV knowledge likely overestimates cCMV awareness levels for two main reasons. Firstly, participants often exaggerate responses in self-report studies. Social desirability bias describes the tendency for survey respondents to answer questions in a way that would be viewed favorably by others, such as indicating awareness of a condition for which they actually have no knowledge. Secondly, awareness is a subjective form of knowledge, and can mean different things to different people. For example, a research participant may have heard of CMV, or recognize it from a list of chronic health conditions, yet be unable to identify the detrimental effects of a congenital infection on a newborn, or modes of CMV transmission. In other words, participants may be aware of CMV, but their demonstrated understanding of CMV is inadequate to prevent infection while pregnant. Demonstrated understanding is thus a higher-level, objective form of knowledge. Most previous work on cCMV knowledge describes only awareness levels of cCMV, even though women who reported being aware of CMV could not identify modes of CMV transmission or clinical outcomes of a congenital infection. We present a systematic review of CMV awareness data and suggest a new metric for assessing demonstrated understanding of CMV. It is not enough that women of childbearing age are aware of cCMV; they must also demonstrate understanding of the health risks of cCMV in order for public health interventions to be successful.
- Discuss CMV awareness studies in US and abroad
- Define CMV awareness vs demonstrated understanding of CMV
- Identify how demonstrated understanding of CMV will improve public health outcomes
Poster:
21060_12802KathleenMuldoon.pdf
Presenter: Kathleen Muldoon
Dr. Muldoon received her PhD in anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, and is Associate Professor of Anatomy at Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, where she teaches anatomy and embryology to medical and allied health students. Dr. Muldoon is an education scholar, with interest in the effectiveness of teaching innovations on retention of material and public health knowledge. Her research interests include evaluating methods for prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection through professional education, and promotion of CMV awareness and behavioral interventions in the community. Dr. Muldoon's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, American Philosophical Society, and Sigma Xi, among others. She has given research seminars and community outreach workshops nationally and internationally, and her work has been featured on National Public Radio. Dr. Muldoon is the proud mother of three children: her eight-year-old son has multiple disabilities due to congenital cytomegalovirus.
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No relevant financial relationship exist.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Kristen serves as President & CEO of National CMV Foundation. She was most recently the Vice President of Account Management for Rosetta, now SapientRazorfish, a multi-service offering, customer-centric, consulting agency. A graduate of the University of Michigan, with an M.A. in Global Marketing Communications & Advertising from Emerson College, Kristen has 13 years in marketing and digital media experience working with several leading global and national brands. She co-founded the National CMV Foundation with her husband John, inspired by their daughter Evelyn Grace, born with congenital CMV. Kristen lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband and two sons.
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Seth Dobson received his PhD in Anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently an analytics consultant for a marketing technology firm. He has industry expertise as a data analyst in financial services and telecommunications. Before joining the corporate world, Dr. Dobson was assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College. His academic research focused on primate communication and brain evolution. Dr. Dobson and his wife Dr. Kathleen Muldoon live with their three beautiful children in sunny Phoenix, AZ. His middle child was born with congenital cytomegalovirus and is multiply-disabled as a result.
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Nonfinancial -