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Main Outcome Variable (main + outcome_variable)
Selected AbstractsRisk Factors for Potentially Harmful Informal Caregiver BehaviorJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 2 2005Scott R. Beach PhD Objectives: Caring for a sick or disabled relative has been linked to compromised caregiver health, and risk factors for negative caregiver outcomes have been studied extensively, but little attention has been given to care recipient and caregiver health as risk factors for potentially harmful behavior by informal caregivers. This article explores such risk factors. Design: Structured interviews from baseline assessment of the Family Relationships in Late Life Study. Setting: Three U.S. communities. Participants: Referred, volunteer sample of 265 caregiver/care recipient dyads. Caregivers were primarily responsible for care of an impaired, community-residing family member aged 60 and older and providing help with at least one activity of daily living (ADL) or two instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Measurements: Self-reported care recipient demographics, cognitive status, need for care, and self-rated health; self-reported caregiver demographics, cognitive status, amount of care provided, self-rated health, physical symptoms, and depression. Care recipient reports of potentially harmful caregiver behavior, including screaming and yelling, insulting or swearing, threatening to send to a nursing home, and withholding food, were the main outcome variable. Results: The following were significant risk factors for potentially harmful caregiver behavior: greater care recipient ADL/IADL needs (odds ratio (OR)=1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.03,1.22), spouse caregivers (vs others; OR=8.00, 95% CI=1.71,37.47), greater caregiver cognitive impairment (OR=1.20, 95% CI=1.04,1.38), more caregiver physical symptoms (OR=1.07, 95% CI=1.01,1.13), and caregivers at risk for clinical depression (OR=3.47, 95% CI=1.58,7.62). Conclusion: Potentially harmful caregiver behavior is more likely in spouse caregiving situations and when care recipients have greater needs for care and caregivers are more cognitively impaired, have more physical symptoms, and are at risk for clinical depression. This risk profile is similar to that for negative caregiver outcomes. [source] Bayesian statistics in medical research: an intuitive alternative to conventional data analysisJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2000AStat, Lyle C. Gurrin BSc (Hons) Summary Statistical analysis of both experimental and observational data is central to medical research. Unfortunately, the process of conventional statistical analysis is poorly understood by many medical scientists. This is due, in part, to the counter-intuitive nature of the basic tools of traditional (frequency-based) statistical inference. For example, the proper definition of a conventional 95% confidence interval is quite confusing. It is based upon the imaginary results of a series of hypothetical repetitions of the data generation process and subsequent analysis. Not surprisingly, this formal definition is often ignored and a 95% confidence interval is widely taken to represent a range of values that is associated with a 95% probability of containing the true value of the parameter being estimated. Working within the traditional framework of frequency-based statistics, this interpretation is fundamentally incorrect. It is perfectly valid, however, if one works within the framework of Bayesian statistics and assumes a ,prior distribution' that is uniform on the scale of the main outcome variable. This reflects a limited equivalence between conventional and Bayesian statistics that can be used to facilitate a simple Bayesian interpretation based on the results of a standard analysis. Such inferences provide direct and understandable answers to many important types of question in medical research. For example, they can be used to assist decision making based upon studies with unavoidably low statistical power, where non-significant results are all too often, and wrongly, interpreted as implying ,no effect'. They can also be used to overcome the confusion that can result when statistically significant effects are too small to be clinically relevant. This paper describes the theoretical basis of the Bayesian-based approach and illustrates its application with a practical example that investigates the prevalence of major cardiac defects in a cohort of children born using the assisted reproduction technique known as ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection). [source] The number needed to treat: a useful clinical measure or a case of the Emperor's new clothes?PHARMACEUTICAL STATISTICS: THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED STATISTICS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY, Issue 2 2003Andrew P. Grieve The number needed to treat (NNT) was introduced into the medical literature as an easily understood and useful measure of treatment effect for clinical trials in which the main outcome variable is binary. It has been argued that it is more easily understood by practising physicians than more statistically based measures. In this paper we review the claims made for the NNT and question whether it is truly understandable to physicians, and look at issues around determining a confidence interval, or a Bayesian interval, for the NNT. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Influence of duration of sexual cohabitation on the risk of hypertension in nulliparous parturients in Ibadan: A cohort studyAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Oladapo OLAYEMI Background:, Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are an important cause of maternal mortality in this environment, it accounts for about 20% of all maternal deaths in pregnancy in Nigeria. Aim:, This study aims to determine the effect of the length of sexual cohabitation on the development of hypertension in pregnancy in a Nigerian population. Materials and methods:, The study was a prospective cohort study; three centres were involved in the study between July 2006 and February 2009. For this study, the main outcome variable was the development of Hypertension in pregnancy. The main explanatory variable was the length of preconception sexual cohabitation. Univariate analysis was by t test, chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test for continuous and categorical variables. Multivariate analysis was by Cox hazard regression Results:, In the study population, the incidence of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia were 28.93% and 4.13% respectively, 29.64% had previous abortions and same paternity abortion rate was 25.92%. Length of sexual cohabitation before index pregnancy was protective against hypertension in pregnancy but not for pre-eclampsia; there was a 4% decrease in the risk of developing hypertension for every month increase in cohabitation (hazard ratio, HR 0.96 (95% CI 0.93,0.99)). Also protective in this model was same paternity abortion with a HR of 0.71 (95% CI 0.55,0.93). A previous abortion was not protective (HR 1.05 (95% CI 0.82,1.35)). Conclusion:, It was concluded that increased length of sexual cohabitation prior to conception reduces the risk of gestational hypertension. [source] Exploring the profiles of nurses' job satisfaction in Macau: results of a cluster analysisJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 3-4 2010Moon Fai Chan Aims., To determine whether definable subtypes exist within a cohort of nurses with regard to factors associated with nurses' job satisfaction patterns and to compare whether these factors vary between nurses in groups with different profiles. Background., Globally, the health care system is experiencing major changes and influence nurses' job satisfaction and may ultimately affect the quality of nursing care for patients. Design., A descriptive survey. Methods., Data were collected using a self-reported structured questionnaire. Nurses were recruited in two hospitals in Macao. Two main outcome variables were collected: Predisposing characteristics and five components on job satisfaction outcomes. Results., A cluster analysis yielded two clusters (n = 649). Cluster 1 consisted of 60·6% (n = 393) and Cluster 2 of 39·4% (n = 256) of the nurses. Cluster 1 nurses were younger, more educated and had less work experience and more intention to change their career than nurses in Cluster 2. Cluster 2 nurses had more work experiences, were of more senior grade and were more satisfied with their current job in terms of peer supports, autonomy and professional opportunities, scheduling and relationships with team members than nurses in Cluster 1. Conclusions., Findings might help by providing important information for health care managers to identify strategies/methods to target a specific group of nurses in hopes of increasing their job satisfaction levels. Relevance to clinical practice., As a long-term investment, hospital management has to promote work environments that support job satisfaction to attract nurses and thereby improve the quality of nursing care. The results of this study might provide hospital managers with a model to design specified interventions to improve nurses' job satisfaction. [source] | ||||||||||