We conducted qualitative interviews with patients with cancer and providers to identify gaps in clinical care and highlight care delivery solutions for the return of secondary germline findings.
...Twelve patients and 19 cancer providers from the United States were interviewed between January 2019 and May 2021. Interviews elicited feedback about patient information needs, emotional responses to secondary findings, and recommendations for improving pre-test education.
Patients' responses ranged from gratitude to regret, depending on how much pre-test counseling they received before tumor testing. Providers cited insufficient clinic time as a major barrier to pretest education, favoring online support tools and standardized pre-test education models. Providers had differing perspectives on how pre-test education should be integrated into clinical workflows but agreed that it should include the differences between somatic and germline testing, the likelihood of medically actionable findings, and the possibility of being referred to a genetics provider.
The spectrum of participants' responses to their secondary findings underscores the importance of adequate pre-test discussions before somatic sequencing. Although educational interventions could address patients' information needs and augment traditional pre-test counseling, health care systems, labs, and genetic providers may be called on to play greater roles in pre-test education.
Menstrual hygiene management, especially in resource-limited settings, is challenging. The acceptability of the menstrual cup is increasing recently in western countries whereas, in developing ...countries like India, the awareness, acceptability, and use of menstrual cups are very limited. We assessed the effectiveness of modified pre-post-test teaching-learning methodology in an online webinar series on menstrual cups using Moore's outcome assessment. An online webinar series on menstrual hygiene and the menstrual cup was conducted to raise awareness about the usage of menstrual cups among the health care workers like Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs), Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHAs), and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) of the Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The questions of modified pre- and post-test were displayed. The questions were displayed to participants using the polling option in zoom. A total of 1597 health care workers participated in the menstrual cup webinar series. Of the total, 72.7% of participants responded to the job title question of which ASHA, ANMs, and AWWs were 16.8%, 34.2%, and 41.9%, respectively. The baseline knowledge of menstrual cups among primary health care workers for "heard of the menstrual cup" and "ever used/know anyone using menstrual cup" was 36.89% and 11.67%, respectively. After the webinar among the primary health care workers, the maximum gain in knowledge was seen for "menstrual cup can be cleaned in the home," 94.53%, and the minimum gain in knowledge was on "unmarried girls can use menstrual cups," 50.42%. The modified pre- and post-test model predicted an overall 50 percent rise in the knowledge of primary health care workers by the webinar series about a different aspect of the menstrual cup.As online webinar providers aim to provide more performance-based learning activities, current approaches to continuing medical education may become obsolete. The single most essential shift in online webinar planners can make is to incorporate modified pre-and post-test to allow for interactive and formative assessment during webinar activities.
•A structured collaborative approach for teaching a case-based course.•Students’ knowledge, critical thinking and teamwork skills improved after the course.•A retrospective pre-test design used to ...obtain students’ perceptions of the course.
This study reports on the use of a structured collaborative learning (SCL) approach to teach case studies in an advanced management accounting course. The SCL approach is intended to help students who are inexperienced with case studies make the transition from learning in lecture-based environment to learning in a case-based environment. Structure during collaborative learning is achieved through the use of a workbook that contains activities that guide students on how to think critically about the case presentation, and how to participate meaningfully in group discussions. A survey based on a retrospective pre-test design was used to obtain student perceptions of the effectiveness of the approach. Students indicated that they acquired more knowledge, critical thinking skills and teamwork skills after the course. They also found the course to be engaging and satisfying.
This study evaluates the impact of interventions in the Omaha System and HeartScore®-based program to reduce impaired-risk perception.
and setting: This study utilized a one-group pre-test-post-test ...design.
The program was conducted among participants aged over 50 years from different social settings.
The program had three parts: a briefing on HeartScore® recommendations, Omaha System interventions, and referral to a doctor.
HeartScore® determined cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and weight, and the International PA Questionnaire evaluated physical activity (PA) levels. Self-assessment was used to perceived CVD risk, BMI, and PA.
We used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare the pre-test and post-test scores of the Omaha System, the problem rating scale (PRS) subscales and McNemar test to measure changes in CVD risk perception, BMI, and PA level.
310 high-risk individuals out of 522 had impaired perception of their CVD risk. Only 201 responded to follow-up phone calls. Interventions based on HeartScore® and Omaha System improved CVD risk and PA perceptions (
< .001) but not BMI. The program significantly increased knowledge, status, and behavior scores (
< .001). After participating, 39% saw a cardiologist, and 57.2% saw a family physician within six months to reduce impaired risk perception. CVD risk perception increased to the actual level after the intervention, mostly in the group with low education level.
The program using the Omaha System and HeartScore® can help middle-aged individuals better understand their risk of cardiovascular disease.
This study emerged as a result of the inability of Basic Six (6) at Zogbeli Primary School pupils in Tamale, Northern Region Ghana to understand the concept of multiplying multi-digit multiplicands. ...To address this problem, the action research methodology was used to provide an immediate solution. A simple random sample of 45 pupils from a total of 90 pupils of a mixed class of P.6A and P.6B was chosen to participate in the study. A Pre-test consisting of 10 test items was administered to assess the pupils’ initial understanding of the concept. The results showed that the majority of the pupils scored poorly, with a mean score of 1.51 and a standard deviation of 0.91. An intervention using the lattice method for five days was then implemented. The lattice method is a hands-on learning method that involves both physical movement and mental engagement. It was hypothesized that this method would help the pupils to develop a deeper understanding of the concept of multiplying multi-digit multiplicands. After the three-day intervention, a Post-test was administered to assess the pupils’ understanding of the concept of multiplying multi-digit multiplicands and also to assess how effective the intervention was in the study. The results showed a significant improvement, with a mean score of 8.11 and a standard deviation of 2.54. Additionally, 93.4% of the pupils scored above the average mark of 5. The findings of this study suggest that lattice technology is an effective method for teaching the concept of multiplying multi-digit multiplicands. This method is engaging and easy to understand, and it can help pupils develop a deeper understanding of the mathematical concepts involved. In conclusion, the use of lattice technology has improved the learning experiences of Basic Six pupils at Zogbeli Primary School. Pupils now have a practical method for solving multi-digit multiplication problems, and they have a better understanding of the mathematical concepts involved. Keywords: Action Research, Pre-test, Post-test, Paired Sample t-test, Lattice technology
The complexity of chemical processes warrants that collection of information about the processes will continue as they proceed through the various stages of industrialization. Process monitoring has ...emerged as an essential tool for confirming that processes stay in control and identify future process improvement opportunities. Linear profile monitoring is an approach that describes the direct relationship between the process or product characteristics and further checks the stability of the relationship by monitoring relevant parameters. In this paper, we propose a new memory-type linear profile control charting scheme that consists of both the homogeneously weighted moving average (HWMA) control charting structure and the Bayesian estimation framework. We utilize the restricted and the pre-test Bayesian framework and propose the HWMAR and HWMAPT control charts, respectively, to monitor the linear profile intercept, slope, and error variance parameters. Comparative analysis revealed the superiority of the proposed charting schemes. Specifically, our simulation results showed that the proposed HWMAR chart outperforms not only the HWMAPT chart but also many other competing charts, already existing in the literature. A real-life example is provided to illustrate the application of the proposed charts in shrinking the variations in the quality of a pharmaceutical product.
•We propose new linear profile schemes for shrinking variations in chemical processes.•We employ a Bayesian framework to estimate the linear profile parameters.•We examine the performance of the schemes using Monte-Carlo simulation.•Comparative analysis with existing methods revealed the superiority of the schemes.•A real-life example is provided to show the application of the proposed schemes.
•In patients with low to intermediate PTP, CCTA is suggested to exclude CAD, while the time-consuming calculation of FFRCT may be unnecessary.•CCTA could be applied as a confirmative test only in ...patients with high PTP, while FFRCT has a high ability to identify a positive finding in patients with intermediate to high PTP.•If CCTA detects a significant or uncertain stenosis with intermediate PTP of CAD, further FFRCT is suggested.
To assess the diagnostic role of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and fractional flow reserve computed tomography (FFRCT) in confirming or excluding ischemic coronary artery disease (CAD) and to provide a rational use of CCTA and FFRCT in different pre-test probability (PTP) of CAD.
We searched the electronic databases from the earliest relevant literature to July 2020 comparing FFRCT or CCTA with FFR. The bivariate random-effects models and Bayes' theorem were used to investigate the diagnostic performance of CCTA and FFRCT with the sensitivity, specificity, pre- and post-test probability.
Fifty-three articles with 4817 patients and 7026 vessels finally met our inclusion criteria. At the patient level, the sensitivity and specificity of CCTA were (0.94, 0.89−0.97), and (0.50, 0.43−0.58), respectively. For FFRCT, the sensitivity and specificity were (0.90, 0.87−0.93) and (0.81, 0.73−0.87). CCTA or FFRCT could increase the post-test probability to >85 % in patients with a PTP > 74.9 % or 54.5 %; CCTA or FFRCT could decrease the post-test probability to <15 % in patients with a pre-test probability <61.3 % or 59.3 %.
In patients with low to intermediate PTP, CCTA is suggested to exclude CAD, while the time-consuming calculation of FFRCT may be unnecessary. If CCTA detects significant or uncertain stenosis with intermediate to high PTP of CAD, further FFRCT is suggested. The advantages of FFRCT for guiding CAD treatment have sufficiently been demonstrated.
This paper presents the design and results of an empirical study investigating the impact of educational robotics on technical skills, social skills as well as on science related attitudes and ...interests of pupils. The study relied on a quasi-experimental two-group design with two measurement points (pre- and post-test) and applied a multiple-choice questionnaire as assessment instrument. The study covered a period of approximately eight months and comprised pupils from different schools in Austria and Sweden. Using well-grounded statistical methods, the gathered data were analyzed around 14 different topics (‘sub-scales’) arranged in three main categories. Results indicate significant intervention effects for three sub-scales (mathematics and scientific investigation, teamwork, social skills) as well as for two main categories (technical skills and soft skills/social aspects). Correlation analysis revealed a number of highly significant strong relations between various sub-scales.
•An empirical study investigating the impact of educational robotics was conducted.•The focus was laid on technical-/social-skills and science related attitudes of pupils.•The study covered a period of 8 months and different schools in Austria and Sweden.•Significant positive effects on mathematics/science, teamwork, social skills were found.•Results indicate a positive impact on a group of related topics.
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