Intimate Partner Violence and #MeToo
The Affordable Care Act changed the landscape of insurance benefits for women. The law improved overall coverage, access to health care, affordability, preventive care use, mental health care, use of contraceptives, and perinatal outcomes. What had not been examined is how the law affected payment for intimate partner violence events. We study that question using nationally representative Emergency Department visits from 2002-2015.
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Mariscal T, Hughes C, Modrek S. Changes in incidents and payment methods for Intimate Partner Violence in Women Residing in the U.S. 2002-2015. Women’s Health Issues, 2020. PubMed PMID: 32611507​.
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#MeToo has changed how openly women speak about their experiences with sexual harassment and assault. In a series of papers, we document the Twitter conversation for self-identified survivors and those not involved in the movement to better understand the public discourse on this sensitive topic.
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Modrek S, Chakalov B. The Spark of the #MeToo Movement: Text Analysis of the Early Twitter Conversation. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2019. PubMed PMID: 31482849.
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Baik J, Nyein T, Modrek S. Social Media Activism and Convergence in Tweet Topics After the Initial #MeToo Movement for Two Distinct Groups of Twitter Users. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2021. PubMed PMID: 33840303.
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Health in the Great Recession
Previous research has found job insecurity to be associated with worse mental and physical health outcomes for the remaining workforce. During recessions when labor markets are weak and other work opportunities may be more limited, the sense of job insecurity may be particularly harmful even for healthier workers who maintain employment. In a series of papers, I examined workers’ reported work stress, health care utilization, the onset of adverse chronic health conditions, and the mental health conditions for an occupational cohort who survived mass layoffs in the context of the recent global recession. In each of these studies, I found that even healthier workers who maintained employment experienced adverse health consequences when they felt that their jobs might be at risk.
Modrek S, Hamad R, Cullen MR. Psychological well-being during the great recession: changes in mental health care utilization in an occupational cohort. Am J Public Health, 2015. PubMed PMID: 25521885.
Hamad R, Modrek S, Cullen M. Healthcare Utilization during the Great Recession: Findings from a Panel of U.S. Workers. Health Services Research, 2016. PMID: 26416343
Modrek S, Cullen MR. Health consequences of the 'Great Recession' on the employed: evidence from an industrial cohort in aluminum manufacturing. Soc Sci Med., 2013. PubMed PMID: 23849284.
Modrek S, Cullen MR. Job insecurity during recessions: effects on survivors' work stress. BMC Public Health, 2013. PubMed PMID: 24093476.
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Modrek S, Stuckler D, McKee M, Cullen M, Basu, S. A review of health consequences of recessions internationally and a synthesis of the US response during the Great Recession. Public Health Reviews, 2013.
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SELECTED PROJECTS AND PUBLICATIONS
Life-Course Trajectories and Healthy Aging
As societies age there is greater need to focus improving the well-being of people of all ages to ensure productive life as long as possible. I have become involved in a series of project that examine the nexus of health and wealth across the life-course.
Rehkopf D, Eisen E, Modrek S, Horner E, Goldstein B, Costello S, Cantley L, Slade M, Cullen M. Early life state of residence characteristics and later life hypertension, diabetes and ischemic heart disease. American Journal of Public Health, 2015. PMID: 26066927
Modrek S, Kuan K, Cullen M. Racial Disparities in Savings Behavior: Evidence from a Continuously Employed Cohort. NBER Working Paper w20937.
Modrek S, Cullen M. Job Demand as a Risk Factor for Early Retirement. Working Paper posted at http://www.nber.org/programs/ag/rrc/rrc2012.
Carstensen LL, Rosenberger ME, Smith K, & Modrek S. Optimizing Health in Aging Societies. Public Policy & Aging Report, 2015.​
Income Inequality and Health Disparities
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Costa Rica has remarkably high life expectancy and some have posited that this is due to the country's low level of socioeconomic inequality. Costa Rica is particularly interesting case because the country is relatively homogenous in terms of ethnic composition and has a strong social safety net. I examined the relationship between income inequality, relative deprivation and health. I found that increasing inequality leads to adverse health behaviors (increased death from alcohol related causes and suicides), suggesting that even with strong safety nets, economic disparities translate to health disparities.
Modrek S, Ahern J. Longitudinal relation of community-level income inequality and mortality in Costa Rica. Health Place, 2011. PubMed PMID: 21873102.
Modrek S, Dow WH, Rosero-Bixby L. Long-term association of economic inequality and mortality in adult Costa Ricans. Soc Sci Med., 2012 PubMed PMID: 22240449.
Modrek S, Dow W, Rosero-Bixby L. Does Personality Confound the Relative Deprivation and Health Relationship? Evidence from Costa Rica. Working paper.
Women's Health in the Middle East
Middle Eastern countries are making rapid gains in women's education and health. I examine the links between government investments in health and education infrastructure and the decline in women’s fertility and female genital mutilation/cutting.
Modrek S, Ghobadi N. The expansion of health houses and fertility outcomes in rural Iran. Stud Fam Plan, 2011. PubMed PMID: 21972665.
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Modrek S, Liu JX. Exploration of pathways related to the decline in female circumcision in Egypt. BMC Public Health, 2013. PubMed PMID: 24090097.
Lui J, Modrek S. Intergenerational Investments in Maternal Education as a Driver for Reducing Female Circumcision: Evidence from Egypt. Working Paper.
Modrek S, Sieverding M. Mothers’ perspectives on the medicalization of FGM/C in Egypt. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2016.
Malaria Diagnosis and Treatment
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There has been strong progress towards the elimination of malaria in the last decade, but many new challenges are arising with greater funding and access to new anti-malarial medications. I have been involved in a series of studies documenting patterns of presumptive treatment and how the introduction of Rapid Diagnostic Tests can reduce overtreatment patterns. My particular contribution was to add insights from behavioral economics to conduct RCTs with text message reminders to examine whether such interventions can alter overtreatment in adults in malaria endemic Nigeria.
Modrek S, Schatzkin E, De La Cruz A, Isiguzo C, Nwokolo E, et al. SMS messages increase adherence to rapid diagnostic test results among malaria patients: results from a pilot study in Nigeria. Malar J., 2014. PubMed PMID: 24564925.
Liu J, Modrek S, Anyanti J, Nwokolo E, De La Cruz A, et al. How do risk preferences relate to malaria care-seeking behavior and the acceptability of a new health technology in Nigeria?. BMC Health Serv Res. 2014 PubMed PMID: 25192615.
Basu S, Modrek S, Bendavid E. Comparing decisions for malaria testing and presumptive treatment: a net health benefit analysis. Med Decis Making, 2014. PubMed PMID: 24829277.
Lui J, Modrek S. Evaluation of SMS Reminder Messages for Altering Treatment Adherence and Health Seeking Perceptions among Child and Adult Malaria Patients Seeking Care in the Private Sector. Health Policy and Planning, 2016. PubMed PMID: 27315831.
