Cancer fatigue (CF) is a major issue facing cancer patients that can negatively impact their quality of life. This study describes the development and validation of the Cancer Fatigue (CF) scale for ...the assessment of fatigue in cancer patients. A total of 202 cancer patients at university hospitals in South Korea were recruited and completed the questionnaires. Descriptive analysis was performed to determine the participants’ socio-demographic characteristics; the construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis; internal consistency reliability of the scale was estimated for the meaningful total scale and factors; and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to confirm the repetitive reproducibility of the factors. Findings indicated that the CF scale had good psychometric properties. 67.89% of the variance was explained by four subfactors: socio-cognitive (six items), physical (five items), psycho-affective (three items), and social-relationship networks (two items). The Cronbach’s alpha of the 16-item CF scale was 0.89 for the total scale, and the range of Cronbach’s alpha for subfactors was .75 to .89, indicating that it is valid and reliable. The 16-item CF scale is a feasible and time-efficient tool for assessing the fatigue of cancer patients in the clinical setting. Healthcare providers may use this measurement tool to explore cancer patients’ fatigue and routinely track the effect of a customized intervention on CF. This study also informs healthcare providers in other countries about the fatigue characteristics of Korean cancer patients.
A reliable instrument is needed to assess vitiligo severity and treatment response.
To assess inter- and intrarater variability and accuracy of the Vitiligo Area Scoring Index among trained raters ...and to evaluate a proposed Vitiligo Area Scoring Index using equidistant 10% depigmentation increments (VASI 10%).
In this prospective study, 12 raters evaluated images of 10 participants with vitiligo on 2 occasions using total body Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (T-VASI) and facial Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (F-VASI) scores after training. Inter- and intrarater reliabilities and accuracy vs digital scores were determined using intraclass correlation coefficients. VASI 10% scores were evaluated separately for interrater reliability and accuracy.
F-VASI interrater reliability improved from “moderate” to “good” between time points, while T-VASI was “good” at both time points. Intrarater reliability ranged from “good” to “excellent” for T-VASI and “poor” to “excellent” for F-VASI. Accuracy intraclass correlation coefficient was “good” to “excellent” for most raters. Interrater reliability using VASI 10% was “moderate” for both T-VASI and F-VASI.
Small participant population and number of raters; participants were not assessed in person; no repeated VASI 10% measures.
Vitiligo Area Scoring Index generally provides good to excellent reliability for assessment of vitiligo by raters who receive standardized training.
Issues
Globally, adolescent drinking is a major public health concern. Alcohol measurements are influenced by local consumption practices, patterns and perceptions of alcohol‐related harm. This is ...the first review to examine what tools are used to measure alcohol consumption, or screen for or assess harmful use in African adolescents, and how these tools take into account the local context.
Approach
A systematic scoping review was conducted in line with the Arksey and O'Malley framework. A search in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Global Health and the Cochrane Database covered the period of 2000–2020.
Key Findings
The search identified 121 papers across 25 African countries. A range of single‐ and multi‐item tools were identified. Very few adaptations of existing questions were specified, and this search identified no tools developed by local researchers that were fundamentally different from established tools often designed in the USA or Europe. Inconsistencies were found in the use of cut‐off scores; many studies used adult cut‐off scores.
Implications and Conclusion
The possible impact of African drinking practices and culture on the accuracy of alcohol screening tools is currently unknown, but is also not taken into account by most research. This, in combination with a limited geographical distribution of alcohol‐related research across the continent and inconsistent use of age‐ and gender‐specific cut‐off scores, points towards probable inaccuracies in current data on adolescent alcohol use in Africa.
The number of complaints university lecturers make about a lack of knowledge, especially first-year students' procedural knowledge, has increased recently. Due to missing adequate empirical evidence, ...a survey of procedural knowledge among students of Austrian high schools in their final year was conducted. For this purpose, test items for procedural knowledge were created, validated and processed by a total of 455 students without technology and formula booklets. The test items were based on a theoretical model with the dimensions number of procedural steps, curricular grade level, content area and rating of importance. Linear models were used to describe the dependencies between the students' success rate and these dimensions. The results show that the level of procedural knowledge among the students is relatively low overall. A closer look reveals that tasks at lower secondary level have a significantly higher students' success rate than tasks at upper secondary level. Furthermore, there is a positive correlation between the students' success rate of a task and the experts' assessment of whether this task should be able to be solved by students without technological aids. Interestingly, the dimensions number of procedural steps and content area have no significant impact on the students' success rate.
This study was conducted to examine the validity and reliability of the Postpartum Stressor Scale (PPSS) in Turkish.177 women were included in the methodological study. The data were collected ...between 24 September 2018 and 24 January 2019. The validity and validity of PPSS according to the language validity and expert opinions was provided by the translation-back translation method. It was determined that the Turkish form of the PPSS did not occur in three sub-dimensions such as the original structure. Therefore, the factor loadings of the PPSS one-dimensional scale ranged from 0.481 to 0.678, and the explained variance (35.3%) was sufficient. According to the results of CFA, factor loadings of the model ranged from 0.40 to 0.64, and t values of all substances were above 1.96. As a result of structural equation modeling. The obtained fit index values of the scale were found to be x2/SD 1.88, GFI 0.93, AGFI 0.88, CFI 0.95, RMSEA 0.071 and SRMR 0.065, and the model was acceptable. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of PPSS was 0.76. In all items of PPSS, item total score correlations were found to be over 0.30 and there was no need to exclude item from the scale. PPSS was determined as a reliable and valid tool for Turkish society. There was a positive significant correlation between PPSS and PSS (p = 0.000). When the mean scores of lower 27% and upper 27% were compared, statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p = 0.000). The mean score of PPSS was 16.67 ± 5.74. As a result of the study, it was determined that the Turkish version of PPSS was a valid and reliable measurement tool.
Measuring organisational safety culture is resource intensive. Safety culture measurement tools must be simplified and cost-effective to enable SMEs to measure their safety culture. This can be ...achieved by reducing the data required by such devices. Predictive analytics suits such a situation as they are designed to predict outcomes with limited input data. This paper investigated the effectiveness and reliability of predictive analytics in reducing the data requirement of safety culture measurement tools. The paper utilised only the perception survey component of a culturally safe tool conducted by over 100 companies to generate a neural network, a predictive algorithm. The predicted result of the neural network, when compared to the original culture-safe score, yielded an r2 greater than 0.7. This outcome demonstrates the feasibility of using machine learning algorithms to reduce the amount of input data required while retaining its accuracy KCI Citation Count: 0
This paper aimed to develop and validate the Zero Textbook Satisfaction Scale (ZSS), a measurement tool to assess student satisfaction with Zero Textbook Costs (ZTC) resources. The validated ZSS is ...available via a CC BY-NC-ND license and is a valuable tool for faculty and institutions seeking to understand student perceptions of their OER/ZTC adoptions and for broad scale OER/ZTC adoption initiatives seeking to understand student experiences with materials across a wide variety of courses. The ZSS was administered, revised, and validated following DeVellis (2017) 8 steps for validating measurement tools. The secondary data was analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), which resulted in 11 items on 1 factor and a Cronbach’s alpha, which showed excellent internal consistency (α = .94). The ZSS validated tool is designed to be used by faculty who would like to assess student satisfaction with the open source textbooks, and compare data to other sites of adoption.
PARPACT – Paramedic Palliative Care Test Chwallek, D.; Schweda, A.; Neukirchen, M. ...
Schmerz (Berlin, Germany),
10/2022, Letnik:
36, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund
Angesichts der Vielzahl von Palliativpatienten, die vom Rettungsdienst versorgt werden, spielen Aus- und Weiterbildung in palliativmedizinischen Themen eine immer größere ...Rolle. Zur Verbesserung der Entscheidungsfindung in Rettungssituationen wurde in vielen Städten ein Palliativ- bzw. Notfallausweis eingeführt.
Ziel der Arbeit
Um den Erfolg von Bildungsmaßnahmen und den Effekt des Palliativ- bzw. Notfallausweises zu überprüfen, wurde ein Fragebogen zur Ermittlung von palliativem Wissen und palliativer Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung im Rettungsdienst entwickelt und validiert.
Material und Methoden
Die Entwicklung und Inhaltsvalidierung erfolgte mithilfe eines Delphi-Prozesses. Zur Konstruktvalidierung wurde die Faktorenanalyse genutzt. Die Kriteriumsvalidität wurde anhand von 22 speziell in Palliative Care geschulten Pflegekräften überprüft. Die Reliabilität wurde mittels Cronbachs α als Maß der internen Konsistenz ermittelt.
Ergebnisse
291 von 750 Rettungsdienstmitarbeitern nahmen an der freiwilligen Befragung teil. Nach Abschluss des Delphi-Prozesses bestand Konsens, dass die wichtigen Themen Schmerz, Dyspnoe, Sedierung, Sterbebegleitung, Sterbehilfe und rechtliche Aspekte im Fragebogen abgedeckt sind. Das Ergebnis der Faktorenanalyse sprach für eine 6‑Faktoren-Lösung. Bei der Kriteriumsvalidierung zeigte sich ein signifikanter Unterschied im palliativen Wissen zwischen den Palliative-Care-Pflegekräften (M
Rang
289,73) und den Rettungsdienstmitarbeitern (M
Rang
146,97, U = 281.000, r = 0,40,
p
< 0,001). Cronbachs α lag für die Wissensfragen bei 0,70 und für die Subskala der palliativen Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung bei 0,82.
Diskussion
Mit dem Paramedic Palliative Care Test (PARPACT) liegt ein validiertes Messinstrument zur Überprüfung von Bildungsmaßnahmen im Rettungsdienst vor.
Patients' expectations of cancer treatment could impact on their treatment experiences. Research in this area tends to focus on a particular aspect of expectations, and no suitable measure exists to ...explore patients' expectations and experiences of treatment. The current study developed and validated two new, matched, measures: The Expectations of Cancer Treatment Questionnaire (EXPECT-CTQ) and the Experiences of Cancer Treatment (EXPER-CTQ). Items were generated using the previous expectations literature, alongside findings from qualitative interviews, and refined with assistance from cancer patients and a wider pool of researchers. A sample of 200 cancer patients completed the measures, and factor analysis was performed to validate the EXPECT-CTQ, resulting in a 39-item measure with subscales assessing treatment efficacy, physical side-effects, psychological side-effects, and the impact of treatment on daily life, social life and self-care. The EXPER-CTQ was matched to the EXPECT-CTQ, excluding the treatment efficacy subscale, resulting in a 36-item measure. Reliability analyses were conducted on both measures with good results (α > 0.6). Analyses of the expectations-experiences relationship encompassing a broad range of expectations showed that expectations are positively associated with experiences of cancer treatment. These two new measures are suitable for use in future research exploring both expectations and experiences of treatment for cancer and the implications of gaps between these constructs.
Introduction Self-regulated learning (SRL), as the self-directed and goal-orientated control of one’s learning process, is an important ability for academic success. Even at preschool age, when its ...development is at a very early stage, SRL helps to predict later learning outcomes. Valid test instruments are needed to identify preschoolers who require SRL support and help them to start school successfully. Methods The present study aimed to provide an adequate SRL test instrument for preschoolers by revising and optimizing an existing strategy knowledge test and validating the revised version–the SRL Strategy Knowledge Test—in a sample of n = 104 German preschoolers ( M age = 5;11 years; 48.1% girls). For the validation, we used measures of (1) SRL and related constructs, (2) psychomotor development, and (3) academic competence, to determine three levels of validity: (a) convergent, (b) divergent, and (c) criterion. All the correlation analyses controlled for child intelligence. Results The results showed that the test is of moderate difficulty and sufficiently reliable (Cronbach’s α = 0.74), can generate normally distributed data, and has a one-factor structure. In line with our hypotheses, we found significant correlations for the convergent and criterion measures, and numerically smaller and insignificant correlations for divergent measures. The correlations for the criterion measures failed to be significant when controlling for intelligence. Discussion The missing evidence for criterion validity when controlling for intelligence may have been due to limitations in the measures used to examine criterion validity. The SRL Strategy Knowledge Test can be used in practice to diagnose the need for SRL support and in future studies and interventions on SRL development.
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