Dr. Ahmed Arif presents at the American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting

Dr. Ahmed Arif presented two research posters at the annual meeting of the American College of Epidemiology held in Silver Spring, MD from September 6-9, 2014.

The first research poster entitled “Association between comorbidities and asthma among children: A case-control study” was based on Dr. Arif’s research, funded by the Faculty Research Grant, conducted in Pakistan. Dr. Arif enrolled 200 children with asthma and 200 without asthma visiting the Koohi Goth Community hospital serving very low income families. The average family income reported by parents was equivalent of USD 50 per month. Children with mental health or developmental problems were more likely to experience asthma as compared to children without asthma.

The second research poster entitled “Association between Prenatal Exposure to Secondhand Smoke and Risk of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms: Examination of Data from the North Carolina Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (2004-2008)” was based on thesis from Ms. Shama Khan, MSPH, who was also the first author on this research poster. The co-authors were Drs. Ahmed Arif, Elizabeth Racine, and James Laditka. Ms. Khan completed her thesis under the supervision of Dr. Arif. The main finding of the study was that women exposed to second-hand smoke were 50%.more likely to receive postpartum depressive symptoms.