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Ordinal Scale (ordinal + scale)
Selected AbstractsThe association between incisor trauma and occlusal characteristics in individuals 8,50 years of ageDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2004Jay D. Shulman Abstract,,, To explore the association between incisal trauma and occlusal characteristics using oral examination and health interview data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988,1994 (NHANES III). Incisal trauma examinations were performed on 15 364 individuals 6,50 years of age using an ordinal scale developed by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Occlusal examinations were performed on 13 057 individuals 8,50 years of age. We fitted separate multivariate logistic regression models for maxillary and mandibular incisor trauma adjusting for socio-demographic variables (age, gender, race-ethnicity) and occlusal characteristics (overbite, overjet, open bite). 23.45% of all individuals evidenced trauma on at least one incisor, with trauma more than four times more prevalent on maxillary (22.59%) than on mandibular incisors (4.78%). Males (OR = 1.67) had greater odds of trauma than females; Whites (OR = 1.37) and non-Hispanic Blacks (OR = 1.37) had greater odds of trauma than Mexican,Americans. The odds of trauma increased with age, peaked from age 21 to 30 (OR = 2.92), and declined. As overjet increased, so did the odds of trauma. Compared to individuals with ,0-mm overjet, odds of trauma increased from 1,3 mm (OR = 1.42) to 4,6 mm (OR = 2.42) to 7,8 mm (OR = 3.24) to >8 mm (OR = 12.47). Trauma to incisors is prevalent but mostly limited to enamel. Trauma to maxillary incisors is associated with overjet, gender, race-ethnicity, and age, while trauma to mandibular incisors is associated with gender, age, and overbite. [source] Parents and Practitioners Are Poor Judges of Young Children's Pain SeverityACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 6 2002Adam J. Singer MD Objective: Visual analog pain scales are reliable measures in older children and adults; however, pain studies that include young children often rely on parental or practitioner assessments for measuring pain severity. The authors correlated patient, parental, and practitioner pain assessments for young children with acute pain. Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive study of a convenience sample of 63 emergency department patients aged 4-7 years, with acute pain resulting from acute illness or painful invasive procedures. A trained research assistant administered a structured pain survey containing demographic and historical features to all parents/guardians. Children assessed their pain severity using a validated ordinal scale that uses five different faces with varying degrees of frowning (severe pain) or smiling (no pain). Each face was converted to a numeric value from 0 (no pain) to 4 (severe pain). Parents and practitioners independently assessed their child's pain using a validated 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) marked "most pain" at the high end. Pairwise correlations between child, parent, and practitioner pain assessments were performed using Spearman's or Pearson's test as appropriate. The association between categorical data was assessed using ,2 tests. Results: Sixty-three children ranging in age from 4 to 7 were included. Mean age (±SD) was 5.7 (±1.1); 42% were female. Fifty-seven successfully completed the face scale. The distribution of the children's scores was 0-17%, 1-9%, 2-30%, 3-14%, and 4-30%. Mean parental and practitioner scores (±SD) on the VAS were 61 (±26) mm and 37 (±26) mm, respectively (maximal = 100 mm). Correlation between child and parent scores was 0.47 (p < 0.001). Correlation between child and practitioner scores was 0.08 (p = 0.54). Correlation between parent and practitioner scores was 0.04 (p = 0.001). Conclusions: There is poor agreement between pain ratings by children, parents, and practitioners. It is unclear which assessment best approximates the true degree of pain the child is experiencing. [source] A multivariate analysis of the outcome of endodontic treatmentEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2004Dag Ųrstavik In the present study, multivariate analyses were performed on clinical and treatment variables that may influence the outcome of endodontic treatment. Data collected in a previous clinical-radiographic follow-up study were used. Of 810 treated, 675 roots in 498 teeth were followed for 6 months to 4 yr. Of these, 192 (the CAP group) had pre-existing, chronic apical periodontitis and 483 (the NAP group) had not. Root canal treatment followed a standard procedure with one of three sealers chosen at random. Demographic, clinical and radiographic variables were recorded at the start of, and during treatment. The periapical index (PAI) score was used to record the outcome of treatment, and applied in two different endpoint modes (END1 and END2) as the dependent variable for multivariate statistical analyses using logistic regression and the general model. The modes reflected increasing PAI scores (END1) and conventional success/failure assessment (END2). Dropouts were largely similar to the cases followed up. A total of 10 preoperative and peroperative variables were found to be significantly associated with treatment outcome by the multivariate analyses of either the total material or the NAP or CAP subgroups. Several of these were not significant in univariate analyses (e.g. the effect of sealer). Conventional success/failure analyses (END2) identified fewer of the influential variables and had low explanatory power, whereas PAI scores on an ordinal scale (END1) were most sensitive in identifying variables of influence on the treatment outcome. [source] Measuring inequality in self-reported health,discussion of a recently suggested approach using Finnish dataHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 7 2004Jorgen Lauridsen Health surveys often include a general question on self-assessed health (SAH), usually measured on an ordinal scale with three to five response categories, from ,very poor' or ,poor' to ,very good' or ,excellent'. This paper assesses the scaling of responses on the SAH question. It compares alternative procedures designed to impose cardinality on the ordinal responses. These include OLS, ordered probit and interval regression approaches. The cardinal measures of health are used to compute and decompose concentration indices for income-related inequality in health. Results are provided using Finnish data on 15D and the SAH questions. Further evidence emerges for the internal validity of a method used in a pioneering study by van Doorslaer and Jones which was based on Canadian data on the McMaster Health Utility Index Mark III (HUI) and SAH. The study validates the conclusions drawn by van Doorslaer and Jones. It confirms that the interval regression approach is superior to OLS and ordered probit regression in assessing health inequality. However, regarding the choice of scaling instrument, it is concluded that the scaling of SAH categories and, consequently, the measured degree of inequality, are sensitive to characteristics of the chosen scaling instrument. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Estimating fat and protein fuel from fat and muscle scores in passerinesIBIS, Issue 4 2009VOLKER SALEWSKI Fat is the prime energy source for birds during prolonged exercise, but protein is also catabolized. Estimates of the amount of catabolizable fat and protein (termed fat and protein fuel) are therefore important for studying energetics of birds. As fat and protein fuel can only be measured by sacrificing individuals or by use of technically complex methods, scoring systems were invented to estimate fat and protein fuel of birds in the field. The visible subcutaneous fat deposits and the thickness of the flight muscles are each scored on an ordinal scale but these scales do not correspond linearly to fat and protein fuel within species, which is needed for analyses such as flight range estimates. We developed an anova -type model to estimate fat and protein fuel from fat scores (FS) and muscle scores (MS) along with total mass and a size measurement. Using data from 11 337 individuals of eight passerine species (Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos, Eurasian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus, Melodious Warbler Hippolais polyglotta, Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus, Orphean Warbler Sylvia hortensis, Garden Warbler Sylvia borin, Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis, Subalpine Warbler Sylvia cantillans) mist-netted in Mauritania, West Africa, we tested for independence of FS and MS and for variation in the relationship between scores and associated mass in response to physiological state. FS, MS and third primary length (size) explained variation in body mass of all eight species analysed (R2: 0.56,0.77). The parameter estimates of the model showed that fat and protein fuel increased monotonically with increasing fat and muscle scores. In two species we found small differences in the estimates between physiological states (seasons). We evaluated our model by comparing the predicted body mass of birds with both FS and MS equal to 0 with the mean body mass of individuals mist-netted with both scores equal to zero. The values were very close. The amount of fat extracted from dead Garden and Willow Warblers was within the range of predicted fat fuel derived from the model. We conclude that our model is a useful non-invasive method to estimate simultaneously mean fat and protein fuel of small passerines and we provide recommendations on its use. [source] Sexual Dimorphism in America: Geometric Morphometric Analysis of the Craniofacial Region,JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 1 2008Erin H. Kimmerle Ph.D. Abstract:, One of the four pillars of the anthropological protocol is the estimation of sex. The protocol generally consists of linear metric analysis or visually assessing individual skeletal traits on the skull and pelvis based on an ordinal scale of 1,5, ranging from very masculine to very feminine. The morphologic traits are then some how averaged by the investigator to estimate sex. Some skulls may be misclassified because of apparent morphologic features that appear more or less robust due to size differences among individuals. The question of misclassification may be further exemplified in light of comparisons across populations that may differ not only in cranial robusticity but also in stature and general physique. The purpose of this study is to further examine the effect of size and sex on craniofacial shape among American populations to better understand the allometric foundation of skeletal traits currently used for sex estimation. Three-dimensional coordinates of 16 standard craniofacial landmarks were collected using a Microscribe-3DX digitizer. Data were collected for 118 American White and Black males and females from the W.M. Bass Donated Collection and the Forensic Data Bank. The MANCOVA procedure tested shape differences as a function of sex and size. Sex had a significant influence on shape for both American Whites (F = 2.90; d.f. = 19, 39; p > F = 0.0024) and Blacks (F = 2.81; d.f. = 19, 37; p > F = 0.0035), whereas size did not have a significant influence on shape in either Whites (F = 1.69; d.f. = 19, 39; p > F = 0.08) or Blacks (F = 1.09; d.f. = 19, 37; p > F = 0.40). Therefore, for each sex, individuals of various sizes were statistically the same shape. In other words, while significant differences were present between the size of males and females (males on average were larger), there was no size effect beyond that accounted for by sex differences in size. Moreover, the consistency between American groups is interesting as it suggests that population differences in sexual dimorphism may result more from human variation in size than allometric variation in craniofacial morphology. [source] How to score alternatives when criteria are scored on an ordinal scaleJOURNAL OF MULTI CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS, Issue 1-2 2008Michel GrabischArticle first published online: 29 OCT 200 Abstract We address in this paper the problem of scoring alternatives when they are evaluated with respect to several criteria on a finite ordinal scale E. We show that in general, the ordinal scale E has to be refined or shrunk in order to be able to represent the preference of the decision maker by an aggregation operator belonging to the family of mean operators. This paper recalls previous theoretical results of the author giving necessary and sufficient conditions for a representation of preferences, and then focuses on describing practical algorithms and examples. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Amitriptyline treatment of chronic pain in patients with temporomandibular disordersJOURNAL OF ORAL REHABILITATION, Issue 10 2000O. Plesh Randomized clinical trials of amitriptyline will require data from pilot studies to be used for sample size estimates, but such data are lacking. This study investigated the 6-week and 1-year effectiveness of low dose amitriptyline (10,30 mg) for the treatment of patients with chronic temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain. Based on clinical examination, patients were divided into two groups: myofascial and mixed (myofascial and temporomandibular joint disorders). Baseline pain was assessed by a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain intensity and by the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Depression was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) short form. Patient assessment of global treatment effectiveness was obtained after 6 weeks and 1 year of treatment by using a five-point ordinal scale: (1) worse, (2) unchanged, (3) minimally improved, (4) moderately improved, (5) markedly improved. The results showed a significant reduction for all pain scores after 6 weeks and 1 year post-treatment. The depression scores changed in depressed but not in non-depressed patients. Global treatment effectiveness showed significant improvement 6 weeks and 1 year post-treatment. However, pain and global treatment effectiveness were less improved at 1 year than at 6 weeks. [source] Food sensitivity in the dog: a quantitative studyJOURNAL OF SMALL ANIMAL PRACTICE, Issue 5 2002C. J. Chesney Over a period of one year, 251 dogs were presented to a UK-based dermatology referral clinic. Eighty-five of these were either diagnosed as having symptoms compatible with atopy (58 dogs), or suffered from chronic otitis or recurrent pyoderma. All 85 were placed on a carefully restricted diet for eight to nine weeks in an attempt to establish whether the symptoms were due to food sensitivity. In total, 19 were shown to have food sensitivity, representing 7·6 per cent of all dogs presented to the clinic, and one-third (32·7 per cent) of those dogs with signs compatible with a diagnosis of atopy. In five dogs with proven food sensitivity, otitis was the principal clinical sign and, in two others, recurrent pyoderma. In the population studied, labradors appeared to be predisposed to the condition. Improvement was monitored by asking owners to assess their dog's symptoms on an ordinal scale of pruritus. In those cases in which food sensitivity was confirmed, significant reduction in pruritus occurred. Most of these could be maintained long term on a commercial restricted-component diet. Particular effort was made to ensure owner compliance with the diet trials, using an explanation and model based upon a Venn diagram showing assumed links between atopy and several,flare factors'. It was found that this approach significantly enhanced client understanding and cooperation. It is concluded that a careful approach, monitored by active clinical audit, will help to establish the true incidence of food sensitivity. [source] Regression modelling of weighted , by using generalized estimating equationsJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 1 2000R. Gonin In many clinical studies more than one observer may be rating a characteristic measured on an ordinal scale. For example, a study may involve a group of physicians rating a feature seen on a pathology specimen or a computer tomography scan. In clinical studies of this kind, the weighted , coefficient is a popular measure of agreement for ordinally scaled ratings. Our research stems from a study in which the severity of inflammatory skin disease was rated. The investigators wished to determine and evaluate the strength of agreement between a variable number of observers taking into account patient-specific (age and gender) as well as rater-specific (whether board certified in dermatology) characteristics. This suggested modelling , as a function of these covariates. We propose the use of generalized estimating equations to estimate the weighted , coefficient. This approach also accommodates unbalanced data which arise when some subjects are not judged by the same set of observers. Currently an estimate of overall , for a simple unbalanced data set without covariates involving more than two observers is unavailable. In the inflammatory skin disease study none of the covariates were significantly associated with ,, thus enabling the calculation of an overall weighted , for this unbalanced data set. In the second motivating example (multiple sclerosis), geographic location was significantly associated with ,. In addition we also compared the results of our method with current methods of testing for heterogeneity of weighted , coefficients across strata (geographic location) that are available for balanced data sets. [source] Reliability of the assessment of preventable adverse drug events in daily clinical practice,PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 7 2008Jasperien E. van Doormaal PharmD Abstract Purpose To determine the reliability of the assessment of preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) in daily practice and to explore the impact of the assessors' professional background and the case characteristics on reliability. Methods We used a combination of the simplified Yale algorithm and the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) scheme to assess on the one hand the causal relationship between medication errors (MEs) and adverse events in hospitalised patients and on the other hand the severity of the clinical consequence of MEs. Five pharmacists and five physicians applied this algorithm to 30 potential MEs. After individual assessment, the pharmacists reached consensus and so did the physicians. Outcome was both MEs' severity (ordinal scale, NCC MERP categories A,I) and the occurrence of preventable harm (binary outcome, NCC MERP categories A,D vs. E,I). Kappa statistics was used to assess agreement. Results The overall agreement on MEs' severity was fair for the pharmacists (,,=,0.34) as well as for the physicians (,,=,0.25). Overall agreement for the 10 raters was fair (,,=,0.25) as well as the agreement between both consensus outcomes (,,=,0.30). Agreement on the occurrence of preventable harm was higher, ranging from ,,=,0.36 for the physicians through ,,=,0.49 for the pharmacists. Overall agreement for the 10 raters was fair (,,=,0.36). The agreement between both consensus outcomes was moderate (,,=,0.47). None of the included case characteristics had a significant impact on agreement. Conclusions Individual assessment of preventable ADEs in real patients is difficult, possibly because of the difficult assessment of contextual information. Best approach seems to be a consensus method including both pharmacists and physicians. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Measurement System Analysis for Bounded Ordinal DataQUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 5 2004Jeroen de Mast Abstract The precision of a measurement system is the consistency across multiple measurements of the same object. This paper studies the evaluation of the precision of measurement systems that measure on a bounded ordinal scale. A bounded ordinal scale consists of a finite number of categories that have a specific order. Based on an inventory of methods for the evaluation of precision for other types of measurement scales, the article proposes two approaches. The first approach is based on a latent variable model and is a variant of the intraclass correlation method. The second approach is a non-parametric approach, the results of which are, however, rather difficult to interpret. The approaches are illustrated with an artificial data set and an industrial data set. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Managing platform architectures and manufacturing processes for nonassembled productsTHE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002Marc H. Meyer The article presents methods for defining product platforms and measuring business performance in process intensive industries. We first show how process intensive product platforms can be defined using the products and processes of a film manufacturer. We then present an empirical method for understanding the dynamics of process intensive platform innovation, allocating engineering and sales data to specific platform and product development efforts within a product family. We applied this method to a major product line of a materials manufacturer. We gathered ten years of engineering and manufacturing cost data and allocated these to successive platforms and products, and then generated R&D performance measures. These data show the dynamic of heavy capital spending relative to product engineering as one might expect in a process intensive industries. The data also show how derivative products can be leveraged from underlying product platforms and processes for nonassembled products. Embedded within these data are strategies for creating reusable subsystems (comprising components, materials, etc.) and common production processes. Hard data on the degree to which subsystems and processes are shared across different products frequently are typically not maintained by corporations for the duration needed to understand the dynamics of evolving product families. For this reason, we developed and applied a second method to assess the degree of reuse of subsystems and processes. This method asks engineering managers to provide subjective ratings on an ordinal scale regarding the use of technology and processes from one product to the next in a cumulative manner. We find that high levels of reuse generally indicate that a product family was developed with a platform discipline. We applied this measure of platform intensity to two product lines of integrated circuits from another large manufacturer. We used this method to gather approximately ten years of information for each product family. Upon analysis, one product family showed substantial platform discipline, emphasizing a common architecture and processes across specific products within the product line. The other product family was developed with significantly less sharing and reuse of architecture, components, and processes. We then found that the platform centric product family outperformed the latter along a number of performance dimensions over the course of the decade under examination. [source] Disease Mapping of Stage-Specific Cancer Incidence DataBIOMETRICS, Issue 3 2002Leonhard Knorr-Held Summary. We propose two approaches for the spatial analysis of cancer incidence data with additional information on the stage of the disease at time of diagnosis. The two formulations are extensions of commonly used models for multicategorical response data on an ordinal scale. We include spatial and age-group effects in both formulations, which we estimate in a nonparametric smooth way. More specifically, we adopt a fully Bayesian approach based on Gaussian pairwise difference priors where additional smoothing parameters are treated as unknown as well. We argue that the methods are useful in monitoring the effectiveness of mass cancer screening and illustrate this through an application to data on cervical cancer in the former German Democratic Republic. The results suggest that there are large spatial differences in the stage proportions, which indicate spatial variability with respect to the introduction and effectiveness of Pap smear screening programs. [source] Assessment of subjective scales for selection of patients for nasal septal surgeryCLINICAL OTOLARYNGOLOGY, Issue 4 2006J.M. Boyce Objective:, To investigate the use of subjective measures to assist the surgeon in patient selection for septal surgery. Study design:, Prospective, observational. Approved by local ethics committee. Setting:, ENT outpatient department, University Hospital of Wales. Participants:, Forty-six participants on the waiting list for septal surgery for nasal obstruction. Main outcome measure:, Measurement of nasal partitioning of airflow by rhinospirometer (GM Instruments, Scotland), subjective scales, and investigator's assessment of septal deviation. Results:, The subjective scores, and investigator's assessment of septal deviation, were compared with the rhinospirometer objective measurements for correlation, sensitivity and specificity. The rhinospirometry results showed that 20% of the patients on the waiting list had objective measures of partitioning of nasal airflow within a normal range for healthy subjects. The ordinal scale proved to be more useful than the visual analogue scale for patient selection. The subjective scores of airflow partitioning from the double ordinal scale correlated well with the rhinospirometry measurements (r = 0.8). The ordinal scale also had a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 60%. The investigator's subjective assessment of septal deviation had a high sensitivity at around 100% but had a lower specificity (30%). Conclusions:, The use of a subjective ordinal scale to measure partitioning of airflow greatly increased the specificity of patient selection and it is proposed that this scale may be useful to the surgeon when assessing patients for septal surgery. [source] The International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS): an integrated system for measuring dental cariesCOMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 3 2007A. I. Ismail Abstract,,, This paper describes early findings of evaluations of the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) conducted by the Detroit Center for Research on Oral Health Disparities (DCR-OHD). The lack of consistency among the contemporary criteria systems limits the comparability of outcomes measured in epidemiological and clinical studies. The ICDAS criteria were developed by an international team of caries researchers to integrate several new criteria systems into one standard system for caries detection and assessment. Using ICDAS in the DCR-OHD cohort study, dental examiners first determined whether a clean and dry tooth surface is sound, sealed, restored, crowned, or missing. Afterwards, the examiners classified the carious status of each tooth surface using a seven-point ordinal scale ranging from sound to extensive cavitation. Histological examination of extracted teeth found increased likelihood of carious demineralization in dentin as the ICDAS codes increased in severity. The criteria were also found to have discriminatory validity in analyses of social, behavioral and dietary factors associated with dental caries. The reliability of six examiners to classify tooth surfaces by their ICDAS carious status ranged between good to excellent (kappa coefficients ranged between 0.59 and 0.82). While further work is still needed to define caries activity, validate the criteria and their reliability in assessing dental caries on smooth surfaces, and develop a classification system for assessing preventive and restorative treatment needs, this early evaluation of the ICDAS platform has found that the system is practical; has content validity, correlational validity with histological examination of pits and fissures in extracted teeth; and discriminatory validity. [source] On weighted P-quantile aggregationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 3 2008Jongyun Hao We consider the problem of aggregating ordinal information with quantitative or qualitative importance based on quantile operations. For a bag ,x1, x2, ,, xn, in real or in (finite) ordinal scales, the quantile operations used in this paper are operating based on the floating position index of xi that is determined by its position on the ordered sequence (x(1), x(2), ,, x(n)), where x(i) is the ith smallest element of the bag ,x1, x2, ,, xn,. We call this type of quantile aggregation as the floating position index-based quantile (p-quantile) aggregation. We study on weighted p-quantile aggregation in real scales and extend the corresponding techniques to p-quantile aggregation of ordinal information with quantitative importance. The aggregated result of the latter is represented by a general ordinal proportional 2-tuple. On basis of the notion of importance transformation (that is modified from Yager), we investigate p-quantile aggregation of ordinal information with qualitative importance. Then, we use p-quantile aggregation to define the floating position index-based ordered weighted averaging (P-OWA) aggregation of ordinal information with qualitative importance and apply it to the problem of multicriteria decision making. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Median-based aggregation operators for prototype construction in ordinal scalesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 6 2003Josep Domingo-Ferrer This article studies aggregation operators in ordinal scales for their application to clustering (more specifically, to microaggregation for statistical disclosure risk). In particular, we consider these operators in the process of prototype construction. This study analyzes main aggregation operators for ordinal scales [plurality rule, medians, Sugeno integrals (SI), and ordinal weighted means (OWM), among others] and shows the difficulties for their application in this particular setting. Then, we propose two approaches to solve the drawbacks and we study their properties. Special emphasis is given to the study of monotonicity because the operator is proven nonsatisfactory for this property. Exhaustive empirical work shows that in most practical situations, this cannot be considered a problem. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Aggregation of linguistic labels when semantics is based on antonymsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 4 2001Vicenē Torra In this work, we introduce aggregation operators for linguistic labels (this is, ordinal scales) when different experts (or information sources) use different domains to express their knowledge. The aggregated value is computed (i) building first a unified framework, (ii) transforming all the initial values into this new framework, (iii) aggregating the transformed values, and (iv) finally applying a reversal transformation. Transformations and all the constructions are based on assuming an existing semantics for all the domains. In this work, we consider the semantics based on the existence of an antonym (or a set of them) for each element in the domain. This is equivalent to a semantics based on negation functions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] The dynamics of perception: modelling subjective wellbeing in a short panelJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 1 2008Stephen Pudney Summary., We consider the issue of the dynamics of perceptions, as expressed in responses to survey questions on subjective wellbeing. We develop a simulated maximum likelihood method for estimation of dynamic linear models, where the dependent variable is partially observed through ordinal scales. This latent auto-regression model is often more appropriate than the usual state dependence model for attitudinal and interval variables. The paper contains an application to a model of households' perceptions of their financial wellbeing, demonstrating the superior fit of the latent auto-regression model to both the usual static model and the state dependence model. [source] Validation of the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale in Pediatric Emergency Department PatientsACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 1 2010Gregory Garra DO Abstract Objectives:, The Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (WBS), used in children to rate pain severity, has been validated outside the emergency department (ED), mostly for chronic pain. The authors validated the WBS in children presenting to the ED with pain by identifying a corresponding mean value of the visual analog scale (VAS) for each face of the WBS and determined the relationship between the WBS and VAS. The hypothesis was that the pain severity ratings on the WBS would be highly correlated (Spearman's rho > 0.80) with those on a VAS. Methods:, This was a prospective, observational study of children ages 8,17 years with pain presenting to a suburban, academic pediatric ED. Children rated their pain severity on a six-item ordinal faces scale (WBS) from none to worst and a 100-mm VAS from least to most. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare mean VAS scores across the six ordinal categories. Spearman's correlation (,) was used to measure agreement between the continuous and ordinal scales. Results:, A total of 120 patients were assessed: the median age was 13 years (interquartile range [IQR] = 10,15 years), 50% were female, 78% were white, and six patients (5%) used a language other than English at home. The most commonly specified locations of pain were extremity (37%), abdomen (19%), and back/neck (11%). The mean VAS increased uniformly across WBS categories in increments of about 17 mm. ANOVA demonstrated significant differences in mean VAS across face groups. Post hoc testing demonstrated that each mean VAS was significantly different from every other mean VAS. Agreement between the WBS and VAS was excellent (, = 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.86 to 0.93). There was no association between age, sex, or pain location with either pain score. Conclusions:, The VAS was found to have an excellent correlation in older children with acute pain in the ED and had a uniformly increasing relationship with WBS. This finding has implications for research on pain management using the WBS as an assessment tool. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:50,54 © 2009 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source] | ||||||||||||||||