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Robust Assessments (robust + assessment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	60%
Life Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Developing an audit tool to assess genetic services

NURSING & HEALTH SCIENCES, Issue 2 2005
Heather Skirton phd
The aim of this study was to use clients' accounts and factor analysis to develop a robust assessment and audit tool for clinical genetic services. Qualitative data abstracted from published studies were used to generate a number of statements (n = 57) related to outcomes of genetic services. The resulting questionnaire was mailed to clients of the Wales genetic service, who were asked to rank each statement on a 7-point Likert type scale. Ninety-seven anonymised responses were received (73% response rate) and subjected to factor analysis. Six main factors were found to contribute to the outcome of the service and were labeled (i) enhanced understanding; (ii) positive psychological change; (iii) respect for autonomy; (iv) adaptation; (v) disequilibrium; and (vi) value of contact. The tool will be validated for use in clinical and research contexts. [source]

Assessment of the practicing physician: Challenges and opportunities

THE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue S1 2008
Eric S. Holmboe MDArticle first published online: 4 DEC 200
Abstract Despite spending a substantial amount of time in structured educational settings during early medical training, most physicians will spend the majority of their career in clinical practice. In the clinical practice setting, physicians become responsible for determining and implementing their own educational program in order to maintain, at a minimum, competence. Pressure to change the nature of continuing medical education (CME) parallels pressure from patients, payers, and policymakers to hold individual physicians more accountable for the care they provide. How can these two forces be brought together more deliberately and effectively? Comprehensive physician assessment provides such an opportunity with the potential to benefit all parties involved in health care, especially patients and physicians. Many assessment methods and tools exist today that can facilitate the integration of CME and quality. Using a multifaceted physician-level performance assessment system has substantial potential to align the public's need and desire to ensure their physician is competent, at a minimum, with providing the physician with meaningful, actionable information and data to improve performance and engage in transformative learning. CME programs need to incorporate more robust assessment as part of the learning activity to facilitate improvements in health care more directly. [source]

The Potential for Species Conservation in Tropical Secondary Forests

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
ROBIN L. CHAZDON
especialización de hábitat; biodiversidad forestal; bosque secundario; bosque tropical; sucesión Abstract:,In the wake of widespread loss of old-growth forests throughout the tropics, secondary forests will likely play a growing role in the conservation of forest biodiversity. We considered a complex hierarchy of factors that interact in space and time to determine the conservation potential of tropical secondary forests. Beyond the characteristics of local forest patches, spatial and temporal landscape dynamics influence the establishment, species composition, and persistence of secondary forests. Prospects for conservation of old-growth species in secondary forests are maximized in regions where the ratio of secondary to old-growth forest area is relatively low, older secondary forests have persisted, anthropogenic disturbance after abandonment is relatively low, seed-dispersing fauna are present, and old-growth forests are close to abandoned sites. The conservation value of a secondary forest is expected to increase over time, as species arriving from remaining old-growth forest patches accumulate. Many studies are poorly replicated, which limits robust assessments of the number and abundance of old-growth species present in secondary forests. Older secondary forests are not often studied and few long-term studies are conducted in secondary forests. Available data indicate that both old-growth and second-growth forests are important to the persistence of forest species in tropical, human-modified landscapes. Resumen:,A raíz de la pérdida generalizada de los bosques maduros en el trópico, los bosques secundarios probablemente jugarán un mayor papel en la conservación de la biodiversidad forestal. Consideramos una jerarquía compleja de factores que interactúan en el espacio y tiempo para determinar el potencial de conservación de los bosques tropicales secundarios. Más allá de las características de los fragmentos de bosque locales, la dinámica espacial y temporal del paisaje influye en el establecimiento, la composición de especies y la persistencia de bosques secundarios. Los prospectos para la conservación de especies primarias en los bosques secundarios se maximizan en regiones donde la proporción de superficie de bosque maduro-bosque secundario es relativamente baja, los bosques secundarios más viejos han persistido, la perturbación antropogénica después del abandono es relativamente baja, hay presencia de fauna dispersora de semillas y donde hay bosques primarios cerca de sitios abandonados. Se espera que el valor de conservación de un bosque secundario incremente en el tiempo, a medida que se acumulan especies provenientes de los fragmentos de bosque primario remanentes. Muchos estudios están pobremente replicados, lo que impide evaluaciones robustas del número y abundancia de especies primarias presentes en bosques secundarios. Los bosques secundarios más viejos generalmente no son estudiados y son pocos los estudios a largo plazo en bosques secundarios. Los datos disponibles indican que tanto los bosques primarios como los secundarios son importantes para la persistencia de especies forestales en paisajes tropicales modificados por humanos. [source]

Not all roads lead to Rome,a review of quality of life measurement in adults with diabetes

DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 4 2009
J. Speight
Abstract Aims Quality of life (QoL) is recognized widely as an important health outcome in diabetes, where the burden of self-management places great demands on the individual. However, the concept of QoL remains ambiguous and poorly defined. The aim of our review is to clarify the measurement of QoL in terms of conceptualization, terminology and psychometric properties, to review the instruments that have been used most frequently to assess QoL in diabetes research and make recommendations for how to select measures appropriately. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted to identify the ten measures most frequently used to assess QoL in diabetes research (including clinical trials) from 1995 to March 2008. Results Six thousand and eight-five abstracts were identified and screened for instrument names. Of the ten instruments most frequently used to assess ,QoL', only three actually do so [i.e. the generic World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) and the diabetes-specific Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) and Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQoL)]. Seven instruments more accurately measure health status [Short-Form 36 (SF-36), EuroQoL 5-Dimension (EQ-5D)], treatment satisfaction [Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ)] and psychological well-being [Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Well-Being Questionnaire (W-BQ), Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID)]. Conclusions No single measure can suit every purpose or application but, when measures are selected inappropriately and data misinterpreted, any conclusions drawn are fundamentally flawed. If we value QoL as a therapeutic goal, we must ensure that the instruments we use are both valid and reliable. QoL assessment has the proven potential to identify ways in which treatments can be tailored to reduce the burden of diabetes. With careful consideration, appropriate measures can be selected and truly robust assessments undertaken successfully. [source]

Assessing the potential impact of salmon fisheries management on the conservation status of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in north-east Scotland

ANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 1 2007
P. M. Thompson
Abstract Conservation efforts are often constrained by uncertainty over the factors driving declines in marine mammal populations. In Scotland, there is concern over the potential impact of unrecorded shooting of seals, particularly where this occurs near Special Areas of Conservation. Here, we show that the abundance of harbour seals Phoca vitulina in the Moray Firth, north-east Scotland, declined by 2,5% per annum between 1993 and 2004. Records from local salmon fisheries and aquaculture sites indicated that 66,327 harbour seals were shot each year between 1994 and 2002. Matrix models and estimates of potential biological removal indicate that this level of shooting is sufficient to explain observed declines. Nevertheless, uncertainty over the number and identity of seals shot means that other factors such as changes in food availability may be contributing. Recent conservation measures markedly reduced the recorded levels of shooting in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, a coordinated management plan was developed to protect salmon fisheries interests while minimizing impacts on local seal populations. Comprehensive monitoring of future population trends and improved regulation of culls are now required to provide more robust assessments of the impact of human persecution on harbour seal populations in the Moray Firth and in other parts of the UK. [source]