Home  About us  Contact
 

Mixed Outcomes (mixed + outcome)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences33%
Humanities and Social Sciences33%

Selected Abstracts

Latent Transition Regression for Mixed Outcomes

BIOMETRICS, Issue 3 2003
Diana L. Miglioretti
Summary. Health status is a complex outcome, often characterized by multiple measures. When assessing changes in health status over time, multiple measures are typically collected longitudinally. Analytic challenges posed by these multivariate longitudinal data are further complicated when the outcomes are combinations of continuous, categorical, and count data. To address these challenges, we propose a fully Bayesian latent transition regression approach for jointly analyzing a mixture of longitudinal outcomes from any distribution. Health status is assumed to be a categorical latent variable, and the multiple outcomes are treated as surrogate measures of the latent health state, observed with error. Using this approach, both baseline latent health state prevalences and the probabilities of transitioning between the health states over time are modeled as functions of covariates. The observed outcomes are related to the latent health states through regression models that include subject-specific effects to account for residual correlation among repeated measures over time, and covariate effects to account for differential measurement of the latent health states. We illustrate our approach with data from a longitudinal study of back pain. [source]

Fibroid embolisation: a technique not without significant complications

BJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 9 2000
A. Vashisht Research Fellow (Gynaecology)
Uterine artery embolisation is a new minimally invasive technique used for the treatment of fibroids. Twenty-one women underwent bilateral uterine artery embolisation at our unit, and we assessed the efficacy, morbidity and patient satisfaction with the procedure. Mixed outcomes were found. Reduction in fibroid volume measured by magnetic resonance imaging was impressive, and the majority of women felt their symptoms had improved. One woman achieved a full term pregnancy following the procedure. However, the procedure involved a significant inpatient stay, analgesia requirement, and a slower recovery time than anticipated. One woman died following overwhelming sepsis occurring 10 days after the procedure. Further studies are required to assess the role this technique may play in the management of uterine fibroids. [source]

REVIEW: Aortic Atheromas: Current Concepts and Controversies,A Review of the Literature

ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2008
Thenappan Thenappan M.D.
The frequent use of transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) has led to the increased recognition of aortic atheromas. Retrospective and prospective follow-up studies have reported an association between aortic atheromas and stroke in the high-risk patient population, with complex plaques being more likely to embolize than simple plaques. However, TEE-based studies in the low-risk cohorts have failed to show a similar association. There is growing body of evidence suggesting that aortic atheroma is a marker of generalized atherosclerosis. Although magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and computed tomography (CT) scan are emerging as a powerful noninvasive tool for characterization of aortic atheromas, TEE is the imaging modality of choice. Currently, treatment of aortic atheromas is not well defined, and mixed outcomes have been reported for anticoagulation therapy with warfarin. Statins appear promising based on their plaque stabilization properties. However, there are no randomized control trials to establish the role of both anticoagulation and statins in patients with aortic atheromas, and are warranted in the future. [source]

Social inclusion in research: reflecting on a research project involving young mothers in care

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 1 2005
Lena Dominelli
This article considers social inclusion in research by reflecting upon a project involving young mothers in care, which used grounded theory methodology (GTM) to theorise their situations and emphasise their voice, a key issue in inclusion, and yielded mixed outcomes. GTM dealt poorly with inclusivity and was supplemented by a feminist orientation. This also failed young mothers. They were included by sitting on an Advisory Com-mittee, being paid an honorarium and assisting in disseminating results. These efforts were unable to overturn power dynamics that privileged researchers' ownership of the findings, and enabled them to benefit from doing research and their rela-tionship with funders. The attempt to change policies and practices that served clients badly was thwarted by an election that brought in a régime with different goals. The young women authored their own stories and spoke authoritatively of their experiences. However, inclusion was not fully secured in and by the research process. Their positioning as research subjects curtailed their potential in this regard. [source]

The value of agri-environment schemes for macro-invertebrate feeders: hedgehogs on arable farms in Britain

ANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 5 2010
A. R. Hof
Abstract Agri-environment schemes have been introduced in countries throughout the world in an attempt to reverse the negative impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity and the environment. There have been some investigations into the effectiveness of such schemes, which show mixed outcomes but little is known with regard to mammals. The hedgehog is a generalist predator and preys on, among others, an array of macro-invertebrates, prey important for many other taxa. For a non-volant species, it is highly mobile in the environment and should thus be less susceptible to negative effects of habitat fragmentation caused by agricultural intensification. However, it has recently been included in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, as a result of evidence of a significant decline. We studied the importance of agri-environment schemes for hedgehogs using radio-tracking on arable farms. Both agri-environment field margins and hedgerows appear to be very valuable for hedgehogs. Both habitat types were intensively utilized by hedgehogs; higher food availability/accessibility on agri-environment field margins and higher food or nest site availability along edges and/or lower predation risk by badgers in arable areas may explain these preferences. Badger predation of hedgehogs was high in the study site and the main cause of death. Our study emphasizes the importance of natural habitat in an agricultural landscape and shows that agri-environment schemes can be beneficial to this generalist macro-invertebrate feeder. The implementation of agri-environment schemes that include wide field margins and dense, well-established hedgerows on farmland could significantly contribute to the viability of hedgehog populations in intensive arable-farming landscapes, and by implication benefit other macro-invertebrate feeders. [source]

Moralising geographies: stigma, smoking islands and responsible subjects

AREA, Issue 4 2007
Lee Thompson
As the long-term negative health effects of continued smoking have become more obvious, smoking cessation has become a key focus of government attention across the developed world. Smoking cessation programmes have had mixed outcomes, with rates of smoking in certain socio-economically disadvantaged and ethnic minority groups remaining high. The increasing stigmatisation of those who continue to smoke, coupled with the spatial segregation of poor and minority populations, may compound to produce ,smoking islands' that may serve to reinforce rather than discourage continued smoking. This paper examines practices of compliance and resistance by disadvantaged smokers and ex-smokers to strategies of biopower. [source]