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Validity Criteria (validity + criterion)
Selected AbstractsMuscle Weakness and Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 7 2004Julie D. Moreland MSc Objectives: To evaluate and summarize the evidence of muscle weakness as a risk factor for falls in older adults. Design: Random-effects meta-analysis. Setting: English-language studies indexed in MEDLINE and CINAHL (1985,2002) under the key words aged and accidental falls and risk factors; bibliographies of retrieved papers. Participants: Fifty percent or more subjects in a study were aged 65 and older. Studies of institutionalized and community-dwelling subjects were included. Measurements: Prospective cohort studies that included measurement of muscle strength at inception (in isolation or with other factors) with follow-up for occurrence of falls. Methods: Sample size, population, setting, measure of muscle strength, and length of follow-up, raw data if no risk estimate, odds ratios (ORs), rate ratios, or incidence density ratios. Each study was assessed using the validity criteria: adjustment for confounders, objective definition of fall outcome, reliable method of measuring muscle strength, and blinded outcome measurement. Results: Thirty studies met the selection criteria; data were available from 13. For lower extremity weakness, the combined OR was 1.76 (95% confidence interval (CI)=1.31,2.37) for any fall and 3.06 (95% CI=1.86,5.04) for recurrent falls. For upper extremity weakness the combined OR was 1.53 (95% CI=1.01,2.32) for any fall and 1.41 (95% CI=1.25,1.59) for recurrent falls. Conclusion: Muscle strength (especially lower extremity) should be one of the factors that is assessed and treated in older adults at risk for falls. More clinical trials are needed to isolate whether muscle-strengthening exercises are effective in preventing falls. [source] Breastfeeding protects against infectious diseases during infancy in industrialized countries.MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION, Issue 3 2009A systematic review Abstract Firstly, this review was performed to assess the effect of breastfeeding on infections during infancy in industrialized countries. Secondly, the effect of duration and exclusiveness of breastfeeding were explored. Studies were identified using Medline, Cochrane Library, Science Citation Index and by a manual search from bibliographies of articles from August 1986 to January 2008. Follow-up, case,control and randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies performed in an industrialized country, published in English, with breastfeeding as a determinant, with overall infections, gastrointestinal or respiratory tract infections as a major outcome, and at least 40 participants in the study were included. Using Bauchner's criteria published in a review in 1986, two reviewers and a peer reviewer assessed the internal validity of those studies. Twenty-one studies that met the inclusion and internal validity criteria were included. These included 16 follow-up and four case,control studies and one RCT. Four out of five studies observed decreased effects on overall infections in breastfed infants. With regard to gastrointestinal infections, six out of eight studies suggested that breastfeeding had a protective effect. Thirteen out of 16 studies concluded that breastfeeding protects infants against respiratory tract infections. Five studies combined duration and exclusiveness of breastfeeding. All studies observed a protective dose/duration-response effect on gastrointestinal or respiratory tract infections. These studies strongly suggest that breastfeeding protects infants against overall infections, gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections in industrialized countries. The optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding for protection against infectious diseases needs to be studied in more detail. [source] Secret Law and the Value of Publicity*RATIO JURIS, Issue 2 2009CHRISTOPHER KUTZ The dangers of secret law from the perspective of democratic accountability are clear, and need no elaboration. But distaste for secret law goes beyond questions of democracy. Since Plato, and continuing through such non-democratic thinkers as Bodin and Hobbes, secret law has been seen as a mark of tyranny, inconsistent with the notion of law itself. This raises both theoretical and practical questions. The theoretical questions involve the consistency of secret law with positivist legal theory. In principle, while a legal system as a whole could not be secret, publicity need not be part of the validity criteria for particular laws. The practical questions arise from the fact that secret laws, and secret governmental operations, are a common and often well-accepted aspect of governmental power. This paper argues that the flaw of secret law goes beyond accountability and beyond efficiency to the role that law plays, and can only play, in situating subjects' understanding of themselves in relation to the state. Secret law, as such, is inconsistent with this fundamental claim of the law to orient us in moral and political space, and undermines the claim to legitimacy of the state's rulers. [source] Hygiene interventions for prevention of cytomegalovirus infection among childbearing women: systematic reviewCHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2009Richard Reading Hygiene interventions for prevention of cytomegalovirus infection among childbearing women: systematic review . HarveyJ. & DennisC.-L. ( 2008 ) Journal of Advanced Nursing , 63 , 440 , 450 . Aim This paper is a report of a systematic review to examine the effectiveness of preventive interventions to reduce congenital cytomegalovirus transmission and infection among women of childbearing age. Background Congenital cytomegalovirus has been identified as the leading infectious cause of damage to the growing fetus in developed countries, including Down's syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome and spina bifida. Despite the prevalence and consequences of this infection, it has a low profile and pregnant mothers are often unaware of the risks and protective behaviours related to its transmission. Women with children in day care and nurses working with children are particularly at risk of acquiring the virus. Data sources A computerized literature search for papers up to 1 December 2007 was performed using MEDLINE (from 1950), EMBASE (from 1980) and CINAHL (from 1982). Review methods Both authors independently reviewed studies that met inclusion criteria and assigned a quality rating determined by the number of validity criteria met. Differences were discussed until consensus was reached. Findings Differences in hygiene behaviour changes were most statistically significant for pregnant, seronegative women. Although the methodological quality of the three included studies was not strong, seroconversion rates consistently decreased as cytomegalovirus education and support increased. Conclusion Nurses can act as preventive agents for cytomegalovirus infection through education about hygiene precautions during antenatal care and through preventive measures in the workplace. The review findings suggest that educational interventions in hygiene practices have the potential to be a feasible, large-scale, primary prevention strategy. [source] | ||||||||||