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Several Items (several + item)
Selected AbstractsOperationalizing quality of life for people with profound multiple disabilities: a Delphi studyJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 5 2007K. Petry Abstract Background In a recent study, we constructed an item pool that contains items on the quality of life (QOL) and related aspects of support of people with profound multiple disabilities (PMD). In the present study, a panel of experts assessed the content and the structure of this item pool in order to enhance its validity and usefulness. Method A two-round Delphi study was set up. The panel consisted of 45 experts, of whom 12 were theory-experts, 12 practice-experts and 12 experience-experts from Belgium (n = 12), Germany (n = 12), the Netherlands (n = 11) and the UK/Ireland (n = 10). Both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were applied to the data. Results The majority of the items were considered relevant for the QOL of people with PMD. In the first round, 91% of the items reached the 80% criterion of consensus. In the second round, 78.7% of the items reached the 85% criterion of consensus. There were no significant differences in opinion neither between types of experts nor between countries. Several items were reported as missing in the item pool and were added. Conclusions The results provide some evidence that the item pool is a valid operationalization of QOL of people with PMD and can be used in an instrument to measure the QOL of this target group. [source] Do parental ratings on cognition reflect neuropsychological outcome in congenital heart disease?ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 1 2008Marijke Miatton Abstract Aim: To describe the parental view of the cognitive skills of their child with a surgically corrected congenital heart disease (CHD) and compare it to objectified cognitive measures in children with CHD 6,12 years postoperatively. Methods: Parents completed a questionnaire on several cognitive functions of their child. Children with CHD and healthy controls (n = 86, aged 8 years 8 months ± 1 year 6 months) underwent an abbreviated IQ-testing and a neurodevelopmental assessment. Results: Parents of the children with CHD more frequently indicated lower sustained attention (p < 0.05), lower divided attention (p < 0.001), more problems with memory and learning skills (p < 0.05), and deficient gross motor functioning (p < 0.01) compared to the parents of healthy controls. Intellectual and neuropsychological assessment revealed a lower estimated full-scale IQ (p < 0.01), worse sensorimotor functioning (p < 0.001), and lower performances on language (p < 0.001), attention/executive functioning (p < 0.05), and memory (p < 0.05) in the CHD-group. Several items of the questionnaire were significant predictors for worse neurodevelopmental outcome. Conclusion: Overall, the objective and subjective measures on cognitive functioning are in agreement and indicate the presence of neurocognitive deficits in children with CHD. This study endorses the accuracy and usefulness of a parental questionnaire to report on the cognitive functioning of the child and urges the investigation of neurocognitive functioning in children with CHD at follow-up. [source] Confirmatory factor analysis and recommendations for improvement of the Autonomy-Preference-Index (API)HEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 3 2010Daniela Simon PhD Dipl Psych Abstract Objective, Validation of the German version of the Autonomy-Preference-Index (API), a measure of patients' preferences for decision making and information seeking. Methods, Stepwise confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on a sample of patients (n = 1592) treated in primary care for depression (n = 186), surgical and internal medicine inpatients (n = 811) and patients with minor trauma treated in an emergency department (n = 595). An initial test of the model was done on calculation and validation halves of the sample. Both local and global indexes-of-fit suggested modifications to the scale. The scale was modified and re-tested in the calculation sample and confirmed in the validation sample. Subgroup analyses for age, gender and type of treatment setting were also performed. Results, The confirmatory analysis led to a modified version of the API with better local and global indexes-of-fit for samples of German-speaking patients. Two items of the sub-scale, ,preference for decision-making', and one item of the sub-scale, ,preference for information seeking', showed very low reliability scores and were deleted. Thus, several global indexes-of-fit clearly improved significantly. The modified scale was confirmed on the validation sample with acceptable to good indices of fit. Results of subgroup analyses indicated that no adaptations were necessary. Discussion and conclusions, This first confirmatory analysis for a German-speaking population showed that the API was improved by the removal of several items. There were theoretically plausible explanations for this improvement suggesting that the modifications might also be appropriate in English and other language versions. [source] A tabu search procedure for coordinating production, inventory and distribution routing problemsINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2010André Luís Shiguemoto Abstract This paper addresses the problem of optimally coordinating a production-distribution system over a multi-period finite horizon, where a facility production produces several items that are distributed to a set of customers by a fleet of homogeneous vehicles. The demand for each item at each customer is known over the horizon. The production planning determines how much to produce of each item in every period, while the distribution planning defines when customers should be visited, the amount of each item that should be delivered to customers and the vehicle routes. The objective is to minimize the sum of production and inventory costs at the facility, inventory costs at the customers and distribution costs. We also consider a related problem of inventory routing, where a supplier receives or produces known quantities of items in each period and has to solve the distribution problem. We propose a tabu search procedure for solving such problems, and this approach is compared with vendor managed policies proposed in the literature, in which the facility knows the inventory levels of the customers and determines the replenishment policies. [source] Long-term quality of life of postoperative rectal cancer patientsJOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY, Issue 5 2002CHISATO HAMASHIMA AbstractBackground: The long-term quality of life (QOL) of postoperative rectal cancer patients has not been previously investigated in Japan and may vary depending on the surgical technique used (i.e. with or without a stoma). Methods: The Kanagawa Cancer Registry was used to select 348 rectal cancer patients who underwent surgery at the St Marianna University Hospital between 1978 and 1997. Of these, 164 surviving patients were sent a postal survey consisting of the Japanese EuroQol instrument with an additional questionnaire on present symptoms and lifestyle. Results and conclusions: One hundred and ten responses were received, including 38 from stoma patients. The presence of a stoma did not affect the QOL of the male patients, while it did affect that of the female patients. The QOL of the long-term survival group was associated with several items concerning lifestyle, symptoms and usual activity, and the association did not depend on the presence of a stoma. The long-term QOL could be recognized according to the characteristics of rectal cancer patients, independent of the presence of a stoma. © 2002 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd [source] Accuracy in the outcomes and assessment information set (OASIS): Results of a video simulationRESEARCH IN NURSING & HEALTH, Issue 4 2003Elizabeth A. Madigan Abstract There is little information regarding the accuracy of the Outcomes and Assessment Information Set (OASIS), the patient assessment tool mandated for use in Medicare-funded home health care. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the accuracy of OASIS completion by home health nurses and rehabilitation therapists, to compare responses of nurses and therapists, and to determine whether dispersion of answers would affect the home health resource group (HHRG) to which patients were assigned for Medicare home health care payments to agencies. Using a video simulation of admission and discharge visits, 436 clinicians from 29 Ohio home health care agencies scored selected OASIS items. Although the majority of the items were rated accurately, discrepancies were found between clinician responses and the "correct" answer on several items. Nurses and therapists provided similar ratings on most items studied, but for most cases in which discrepancies were found, nurses were more likely to agree with the "correct" answer. Discrepancies most often led to patients being assigned to lower-payment HHRGs. Continued monitoring of OASIS data collection accuracy is recommended to maximize the value of the OASIS instrument in home health care research, practice, and policy. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 26:273,283, 2003 [source] RURAL DOCTORS, SATISFACTION IN JAPAN: A NATIONWIDE SURVEYAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2004Masatoshi Matsumoto Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to discover to what degree Japanese rural doctors are satisfied with various aspects of their jobs and lives, and to find out whether they intend to continue their rural careers. Design: Nationwide postal survey Setting: Public clinics or hospitals in municipalities that are authorised as ,rural' by the national government. Subjects: A total of 4896 doctors working for public clinics or hospitals. Interventions: Self-evaluation questionnaires were mailed. The rural doctors were asked to evaluate their satisfaction with 19 items related to their job conditions and 10 items concerning life conditions, using a four-point scale. They also were asked to evaluate their intent to stay in rural practice until retirement. Results: The response rate was 64%. Overall, rural doctors were satisfied with both their work and life conditions. However, only 27% of respondents hoped to continue rural practice beyond the usual age of retirement. Among job-related items, continuing medical education and interactions with municipal governments were rated as least satisfactory. Among lifestyle-related items, duration of holidays and workload were unsatisfactory. Subgroup analysis revealed male doctors showed greater intent to stay in rural practice. Doctors aged > 50 years were more satisfied with most aspects of their job and lifestyle than younger doctors. A strong correlation was found between the degree of intent to stay and several items such as interactions with municipal government, human interactions salary and job fulfilment. Conclusions: Strategies, based on the results of this survey, should be implemented. Particularly in Japan, positive interaction between doctors and municipal governments is crucial. [source] | ||||||||||