Mark R. Schulz

My major research interests are the determinants of physical activity particularly bicycling in populations, bicycling injuries, occupational and environmental health and sports injuries. The bicycle-related research is an area I am trying to develop. My interest in occupational health is informed by ten years of work in the 1980s and 1990s with non-profit organizations advocating for improved workplace health conditions in Wisconsin and North Carolina. Since then I have been involved in research documenting racial and ethnic disparities in work-related cancers and risk assessment research comparing cancer risks estimated from epidemiologic studies with risks estimated from animal bioassays. My CV contains a complete list of my publications from my research in these areas. I teach epidemiology and environmental health to both MPH students and undergraduates.

There are 51 included publications by Mark R. Schulz :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Airway Obstruction Among Latino Poultry Processing Workers in North Carolina 2015 594 This analysis was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of airway obstruction among Latino poultry processing workers. Data were collected from 279 poultry processing workers and 222 other manual laborers via spirometry and interviewer-administered qu...
American-Indian diabetes mortality in the Great Plains Region 2002–2010 2015 1470 Objective To compare American-Indian and Caucasian mortality rates from diabetes among tribal Contract Health Service Delivery Areas (CHSDAs) in the Great Plains Region (GPR) and describe the disparities observed.
Research design and met...
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in Collegiate Female Dancers 2009 2687 ABOUT 80,000 to 250,000 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries of the knee occur annually, with many of these injuries affecting individuals between the ages of 15-25 years.1 The majority of ACL injuries are noncontact in nature,
The association of dermatologist-diagnosed and self-reported skin diseases with skin-related quality of life in Latino migrant farmworkers 2008 2578 Background: Skin diseases are known to affect the quality of life (QoL), but data to support this are based on clinical samples. Few data document the skin-related QoL in the general population, and whether its association differs with self-reported ...
Carbon Black Risk Assessment Comparison Is Flawed 1997 1565 Although the effort of Valberg and Watson (1996) to incorporate epidemiologic data into an assessment of the plausibility of carcinogenicity estimates is to be commended, their analysis contains a fundamental flaw. The authors equate comparison of o...
Common Skin Disorders Seen in the Migrant Farmworker Health Care Clinic Setting 2007 3660 Background: Skin diseases are common occupational illnesses for farmworkers. Migrant farmworkers commonly access rural health clinics for diagnosis and treatment of skin disease. Purpose: To assess common skin conditions of migrant farmworkers treat...
Comparison of Estimations Versus Measured Oxygen Consumption at Rest in Patients With Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction Who Underwent Right-Sided Heart Catheterization 2015 1285 Cardiac output during right-sided heart catheterization is an important variable for patient selection of advanced therapies (cardiac transplantation and left ventricular assist device implantation). The Fick method to determine cardiac output is com...
The Contribution of Benzene to Smoking-Induced Leukemia 2000 1167 Cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk of leukemia; benzene, an established leukemogen, is present in cigarette smoke. By combining epidemiologic data on the health effects of smoking with risk assessment techniques for low-dose ext...
Dermatological Illnesses of Immigrant Poultry-Processing Workers in North Carolina 2005 3902 The authors designed this study to assess skin ailments among male Latino poultry-processing workers in one plant in North Carolina. Because conditions in poultry plants expose workers to multiple agents affecting the skin, the number of skin ailment...
Dermatologist-diagnosed Skin Diseases among Immigrant Latino Poultry Processors and other Manual Workers in North Carolina, USA 2013 1881 Background Immigrant Latino workers represent an expanding workforce in rural areas of the USA, where their employment is concentrated in occupations such as poultry processing that entail chemical, infectious, and mechanical skin exposures. Occupat...
Diagnosed Skin Diseases Among Migrant Farmworkers in North Carolina: Prevalence and Risk Factors 2007 1653 Skin diseases are common among farmworkers, yet little research documents their prevalence and risk factors. This analysis documents the prevalence of skin diseases among farmworkers in North Carolina, examines variation in the prevalence across the ...
Does providing nutrition information at vending machines reduce calories per item sold? 2015 2224 In 2010, the United States (US) enacted a restaurant menu labeling law. The law also applied to vending machine companies selling food. Research suggested that providing nutrition information on menus in restaurants might reduce the number of calorie...
Dose-response relation between acrylamide and pancreatic cancer 2001 1581 In their 1999 study of workers exposed to acrylamide, Marsh et al conducted an SMR analysis, and fitted several relative risk regression models to the data.1 In each analy sis, they found risk of pancreatic cancer increased by about twofold for ...
Ethnic and Racial Differences of Baseline Stroke Knowledge in a “Stroke Belt” Community 2012 1129 Acute stroke is often a treatable condition; however, intervention is time dependent and typically should ensue within 3 hr from onset of symptoms. The ability of individuals to understand stroke risk factors to reduce individual risk and to recogniz...
Eye Health and Safety among Latino Farmworkers 2011 1072 Farmworkers face a variety of risk factors for eye injuries. Measures of eye protection use and of eye safety knowledge and beliefs are based on a survey of 300 Latino farmworkers in North Carolina. Few farmworkers report using eye protection (8.3%);...
Factors Associated with Misperception of Weight in the Stroke Belt 2008 2635 BACKGROUND: Understanding the reasons for over-weight and obesity is critical to addressing the obesity epidemic. Often the decision to lose weight is based as much on one’s self-perception of being overweight as on inherent health benefits. OBJECTI...
Factors Related to the Number of Fast Food Meals Obtained by College Meal Plan Students 2014 8298 Objectives: This study tested whether days on campus, financial access through a meal plan, and health consciousness were associated with number of meals that college students obtained from fast food restaurants. Participants and Methods:
Green Tobacco Sickness and Skin Integrity Among Migrant Latino Farmworkers 2008 3156 Background: Green tobacco sickness (GTS) affects approximately one-quarter of tobacco workers. The primary aim of this analysis is to expand existing knowledge of GTS risk factors by delineating the association of measures of skin integrity with the ...
Health Care Utilization Among Migrant Latino Farmworkers: The Case of Skin Disease 2009 3776 Context: Skin diseases are common occupational illnesses for migrant farmworkers. Farmworkers face many barriers in accessing health care resources. Purpose: Framed by the Health Behavior Model, the purpose of this study was to assess health care ut...
Incidence and Risk Factors for Concussion in High School Athletes, North Carolina, 1996–1999 2004 4638 A prospective cohort study was used to quantify risk factors for sports concussions. Analysis was based on a stratified cluster sample of North Carolina high school athletes followed during 1996–1999. Clustering was by school and sport, and the sampl...
The Influence of Neighborhood Poverty on Blood Glucose Levels: Findings from the Community Initiative to Eliminate Stroke (CITIES) program 2015 727 Objectives: To examine the relationship between both individual and neighborhood level characteristics and non-fasting blood glucose levels.

Study design: This study used a cross sectional design using data from the Community Initiative to E...
Lower Body Stiffness and Muscle Activity Differences Between Female Dancers and Basketball Players During Drop Jumps 2011 1705 Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries often occur during landing, with female athletes at higher injury risk than male athletes. Interestingly, female dancers have lower ACL injury rates than do female athletes in general.Hypothesis: ...
Mortality From Six Work-Related Cancers Among African Americans and Latinos 2000 2074 Background: Ethnic minorities have been omitted from many occupational health studies, despite their substantial contributions to the labor force and documented cases of high exposures in some settings. To describe the occurrence of potentially work-...
Neighborhood Disadvantage and Variations in Blood Pressure 2015 838 Purpose: To examine the extent to which neighborhood disadvantage accounts for variation in blood pressure. Methods: Demographic, biometric, and self-reported data from 19 261 health screenings were used. Addresses of participants were ...
Occupational Bladder Cancer Mortality Among Racial and Ethnic Minorities in 21 States 2000 2713 Background: Occupational bladder cancer mortality among minority racial/ethnic groups is not well described compared to occupational bladder cancer mortality among non-minority males in the United States. Methods: Race/ethnicity- and sex-specific bl...
Occupational exposure assessment in case-control studies: opportunities for improvement 2002 1563 Community based case-control studies are an efficient means to study disease aetiologies, and may be the only practical means to investigate rare diseases. However, exposure assessment remains problematic. We review the literature on the validity...
Occupational Eye Injuries Experienced by Migrant Farmworkers 2012 1203 Migrant farmworkers in North Carolina (n?=?300) reported eye injuries, circumstances of injuries, and outcomes during lifetime U.S. agriculture work. Seventeen injuries were reported by 15 farmworkers; five resulted in lost work time. Most reported i...
One-year Incidence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Latino Poultry Processing Workers and Other Latino Manual Workers 2014 1278 Objective: To determine the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) over 1 year in Latino poultry processing workers. Methods: Symptoms and nerve conduction studies were used to identify Latino poultry processing workers (106 wrists) and Latinos...
Physiological risk profiles and allostatic load: Using latent profile analysis to examine socioeconomic differences in physiological patterns of risk 2019 938 Purpose. The current study sought to expand implications of physiological weathering through the application of latent profile analysis to stress biomarkers to address limitations of traditional allostatic load calculations. Methods. Latent profile a...
Poultry Processing Work and Respiratory Health of Latino Men and Women in North Carolina 2012 2083 Objective: To evaluate associations between poultry processing work and respiratory health among working Latino men and women in North Carolina. Methods: Between May 2009 and November 2010, 402 poultry processing workers and 339 workers in a compari...
Predictors of Congruency between Self-reported Hypertension Status and Measured Blood Pressure in the Stroke Belt 2013 1379 Background: Few studies have comprehensively investigated the validity of self-reported hypertension (HTN) and assessed predictors of HTN status in the stroke belt. This study evaluates validity self-reporting as a tool to screen large study populat...
Predictors of Uncontrolled Hypertension in the Stroke Belt 2013 1378 Inadequate control of high systolic blood pressure in older adults has been largely attributable to poor control of overall hypertension (HTN). The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of ...
Prevalence and predictors of bicycle helmet use in a southeastern, US city 2016 391 Fatalities and head injuries from bicycle-related crashes remain a concern in the United States. Despite legislation in many states, helmet use remains low. This observational study examined the helmet use and related factors in a North Carolina city...
Prevalence of Bifid Median Nerves and Persistent Median Arteries and their Association with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in a Sample of Latino Poultry Processors and Other Manual workers 2013 1348 Introduction: The prevalence of bifid median nerves and persistent median arteries, their co-occurrence, and their relationship to carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) are only understood partially. Methods: We screened 1026 wrists of 513 Latino manual labo...
The Prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Latino Poultry-Processing Workers and Other Latino Manual Workers 2012 1454 Objective: To determine the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in Latino poultry-processing workers. Methods: Symptoms and nerve conduction studies were used to prospectively assess 287 Latino poultry-processing workers and 226 Latinos in ot...
Prevalence of Epicondylitis, Rotator Cuff Syndrome, and Low Back Pain in Latino Poultry Workers and Manual Laborers 2013 1460 Background: The goal of this study is to improve understanding of immigrant Latino manual workers' occupational health, focusing on upper body musculoskeletal injury. Methods: Physical exams were conducted with a representative sample of 516 Latin...
The prevalence of melasma and its association with quality of life in adult male Latino migrant workers 2009 3843 Background: Melasma is a common condition of Latino women that detracts from their quality of life (QOL). The prevalence and impact of melasma in Latino men is not well characterized. Aim: To assess the prevalence of melasma and its association with...
A Prospective Cohort Study of Injury Incidence and Risk Factors in North Carolina High School Competitive Cheerleaders 2004 3617 Background: Cheerleaders suffer nearly half of catastrophic injuries observed in female scholastic athletes in the United States. However, incidence of noncatastrophic injury in this population has not been described. Hypothesis: Coach, athlete, and...
Pterygium Among Latino Migrant Farmworkers in North Carolina 2006 2668 The authors describe the prevalence and severity of pterygium among Latino mi-grant farmworkers in North Carolina and delineate its risk factors. They selected a sample of 304 farmworkers working in eastern North Carolina in 2005. Digital photographs...
Reconciling animal and human data in a cancer risk assessment of acrylonitrile 2001 2040 Objectives Bioassays of rats exposed to acrylonitrile have consistently detected an elevated incidence of central nervous system (CNS) cancer. In contrast, epidemiologic studies have not found a statistically stable increase in CNS cancer mortality...
Self Report of Skin Problems Among Farmworkers in North Carolina 2008 2217 Background: This study estimates the prevalence of self-reported skin problems among Latino farmworkers and identifies associated risk factors. Methods: The study used a longitudinal surveillance design. Participants were interviewed up to five time...
Self-Treatment with Bleach by a Latino Farmworker 2008 2217 Skin disease is common among migrant Latino farmworkers. These workers rarely use formal health care services but commonly engage in self-treatment of their skin disease. We present a patient with dermatitis who self-treated with bleach. This patien...
Skin Disease Among Latino Farmworkers in North Carolina 2006 1210 An estimated 4.2 million seasonal and migrant farm workers and their dependents live in the U.S. Most of these farmworkers are Latino. These workers are exposed to numerous occupational and environmental risk factors that can result in skin disease...
Skin-Related Quality of Life among Migrant Farmworkers 2008 1454 Background: Farmworkers in North America work in an environment likely to produce skin injuries and illnesses that affect quality of life (QOL). Objective: We identified the dimensions of skin-related QOL that were most impaired and examined predict...
Spanish Dermatological Vocabulary Used by Mexican Workers 2005 11179 Spanish is the second most common language spoken in the United States. Physicians can expect a growing population of patients who speak Spanish as their primary language. The purpose of this study was to develop a glossary of Spanish dermatological ...
Teledermatology Consultations Provide Specialty Care for Farmworkers in Rural Clinics 2009 1877 Context: Rural patients have limited access to dermatologic care. Farmworkers have high rates of skin disease and limited access to care. Purpose: This exploratory study assessed whether teledermatology consultations could help meet the needs of hea...
Ultrasound for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Screening in Manual Laborers 2012 1581 Introduction: Manual laborers are at increased risk for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and a combination of history, physical examination, and nerve conduction studies is often used to screen for CTS in this population. Neuromuscular ultrasound may b...
Upper Body Musculoskeletal Symptoms of Latino Poultry Processing Workers and a Comparison Group of Latino Manual Workers 2013 2293 Background: Upper body musculoskeletal injuries are often attributed to rapid work pace and repetitive motions. These job features are common in poultry processing, an industry that relies on Latino immigrants. Few studies document the symptom burde...
Vision Problems, Eye Care History, and Ocular Protection Among Migrant Farmworkers 2008 4197 In this article, the authors describe the self-reported eye conditions, eyecare history, and eye safety practices of migrant farmworkers in eastern North Carolina. The authors administered interviews to 79 farmworkers recruited at migrant clinics. Da...
Visual Acuity and Self-Reported Visual Function among Migrant Farmworkers 2016 425 Purpose: Visual impairment presents significant risks for occupational injuries among farmworkers, a vulnerable population with limited access to vision care. Although previous research has noted farmworkers’ low lifetime experience with visio...
Work Organization and Musculoskeletal Health: Clinical Findings from Immigrant Latino Poultry Processing and Other Manual Workers 2012 1400 Objective: To determine the potential role of differential exposure to work organization hazards in musculoskeletal disorders among immigrant Latino workers. Method: Self-reported work organization data were obtained from immigrant Latino workers i...