-
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes May 2018Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic condition associated with high mortality and morbidity. It is characterized by acute clinical symptoms such as painful... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic condition associated with high mortality and morbidity. It is characterized by acute clinical symptoms such as painful vaso-occlusive crises, which can impair health-related quality of life (HRQL). This study was conducted to identify validated patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments for use in future trials of potential treatments for SCD.
METHODS
A systematic literature review (SLR) was performed using MEDLINE and EMBASE to identify United States (US)-based studies published in English between 1997 and 2017 that reported on validated PRO instruments used in randomized controlled trials and real-world settings. The COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist was used to assess the quality of PRO instruments.
RESULTS
The SLR included 21 studies assessing the psychometric properties of 24 PRO instruments. Fifteen of those instruments were developed and validated for adults and 10 for children (one instrument was used in both children and young adults aged up to 21 years). Only five of the 15 adult instruments and three of the 10 pediatric instruments were developed specifically for SCD. For most instruments, there were few or no data on validation conducted in SCD development cohorts. Of the 24 PRO instruments identified, 16 had strong internal reliability (Cronbach's α ≥0.80). There was often insufficient information to assess the content validity, construct validity, responsiveness, or test-retest reliability of the instruments identified for both child and adult populations. No validated PRO instruments measuring caregiver burden in SCD were identified.
CONCLUSIONS
The evidence on the psychometric properties of PRO instruments was limited. However, the results of this SLR provide key information on such tools to help inform the design of future clinical trials for patients with SCD in the US.
Topics: Adult; Anemia, Sickle Cell; Child; Child, Preschool; Humans; Male; Patient Reported Outcome Measures; Psychometrics; Quality of Life; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Reproducibility of Results; Validation Studies as Topic; Young Adult
PubMed: 29784054
DOI: 10.1186/s12955-018-0930-y -
Global Mental Health (Cambridge,... 2019Mental health issues, often manifested as behavioural difficulties, in children are estimated to be high in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) settings. There is a... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Mental health issues, often manifested as behavioural difficulties, in children are estimated to be high in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) settings. There is a paucity of definitive data due to a lack of well-validated tools to use across settings. This review aims to provide evidence on what tools are used and which have been adapted and validated in LMIC settings.
METHODS
We performed a systematic review to identify tools used to assess or screen externalising behaviour problems in children and adolescents in LMIC and assess their cultural adaptations. We searched for studies measuring externalising behaviour in children from 0 to 19 years published up to September 2018. Articles were assessed to identify tools used and analysed using the Ecological Validity Framework.
RESULTS
We identified 82 articles from over 50 LMICs who had studied externalising behaviour in children. Twenty-seven tools were identified, with a predominance of studies using tools from the USA and Europe. Most studies did not describe an adaptation and evaluation process, with only one study following recommended criteria. New tools were identified which both screen and assess externalising behaviour which have not yet been utilised across settings.
CONCLUSIONS
Although tools from the USA and Europe are often utilised to screen and assess for externalising behaviour problems in children in LMICs, the conceptual frameworks behind the use of these tools in other cultural contexts are not always carefully examined. In order to have valid data across cultures, we should aim to adapt and validate tools before use. Provision of processes to validate tools across LMIC settings would be beneficial.
PubMed: 31391945
DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2019.11 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2021To develop a thematic framework for the range of consequences arising from a diagnostic label from an individual, family/caregiver, healthcare professional, and... (Review)
Review
To develop a thematic framework for the range of consequences arising from a diagnostic label from an individual, family/caregiver, healthcare professional, and community perspective. Systematic scoping review of qualitative studies. We searched PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and CINAHL for primary studies and syntheses of primary studies that explore the consequences of labelling non-cancer diagnoses. Reference lists of included studies were screened, and forward citation searches undertaken. We included peer reviewed publications describing the perceived consequences for individuals labelled with a non-cancer diagnostic label from four perspectives: that of the individual, their family/caregiver, healthcare professional and/or community members. We excluded studies using hypothetical scenarios. Data extraction used a three-staged process: one third was used to develop a preliminary framework, the next third for framework validation, and the final third coded if thematic saturation was not achieved. Author themes and supporting quotes were extracted, and analysed from the perspective of individual, family/caregiver, healthcare professional, or community member. After deduplication, searches identified 7,379 unique articles. Following screening, 146 articles, consisting of 128 primary studies and 18 reviews, were included. The developed framework consisted of five overarching themes relevant to the four perspectives: (e.g., positive/negative psychological impact, social- and self-identity, stigma), (e.g., increased, decreased, relationship changes, professional interactions), (e.g., action and uncertainty), (e.g., beneficial or detrimental modifications), and . Perspectives of individuals were most frequently reported. This review developed and validated a framework of five domains of consequences following diagnostic labelling. Further research is required to test the external validity and acceptability of the framework for individuals and their family/caregiver, healthcare professionals, and community.
Topics: Delivery of Health Care; Health Personnel; Humans; Qualitative Research
PubMed: 35004561
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.725877 -
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2021Although many works have supported the utility of PET radiomics, several authors have raised concerns over the robustness and replicability of the results. This study... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Although many works have supported the utility of PET radiomics, several authors have raised concerns over the robustness and replicability of the results. This study aimed to perform a systematic review on the topic of PET radiomics and the used methodologies.
METHODS
PubMed was searched up to 15 October 2020. Original research articles based on human data specifying at least one tumor type and PET image were included, excluding those that apply only first-order statistics and those including fewer than 20 patients. Each publication, cancer type, objective and several methodological parameters (number of patients and features, validation approach, among other things) were extracted.
RESULTS
A total of 290 studies were included. Lung (28%) and head and neck (24%) were the most studied cancers. The most common objective was prognosis/treatment response (46%), followed by diagnosis/staging (21%), tumor characterization (18%) and technical evaluations (15%). The average number of patients included was 114 (median = 71; range 20-1419), and the average number of high-order features calculated per study was 31 (median = 26, range 1-286).
CONCLUSIONS
PET radiomics is a promising field, but the number of patients in most publications is insufficient, and very few papers perform in-depth validations. The role of standardization initiatives will be crucial in the upcoming years.
PubMed: 33672285
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics11020380 -
BMJ Open Jan 2016To systematically review interventions that aim to improve the governance of patient safety within emergency care on effectiveness, reliability, validity and feasibility. (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVES
To systematically review interventions that aim to improve the governance of patient safety within emergency care on effectiveness, reliability, validity and feasibility.
DESIGN
A systematic review of the literature.
METHODS
PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and PsychInfo were searched for studies published between January 1990 and July 2014. We included studies evaluating interventions relevant for higher management to oversee and manage patient safety, in prehospital emergency medical service (EMS) organisations and hospital-based emergency departments (EDs). Two reviewers independently selected candidate studies, extracted data and assessed study quality. Studies were categorised according to study quality, setting, sample, intervention characteristics and findings.
RESULTS
Of the 18 included studies, 13 (72%) were non-experimental. Nine studies (50%) reported data on the reliability and/or validity of the intervention. Eight studies (44%) reported on the feasibility of the intervention. Only 4 studies (22%) reported statistically significant effects. The use of a simulation-based training programme and well-designed incident reporting systems led to a statistically significant improvement of safety knowledge and attitudes by ED staff and an increase of incident reports within EDs, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
Characteristics of the interventions included in this review (eg, anonymous incident reporting and validation of incident reports by an independent party) could provide useful input for the design of an effective tool to govern patient safety in EMS organisations and EDs. However, executives cannot rely on a robust set of evidence-based and feasible tools to govern patient safety within their emergency care organisation and in the chain of emergency care. Established strategies from other high-risk sectors need to be evaluated in emergency care settings, using an experimental design with valid outcome measures to strengthen the evidence base.
Topics: Emergency Medical Services; Feasibility Studies; Humans; Patient Safety; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 26826151
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009837 -
Implementation Science : IS Aug 2021The important role of leaders in the translation of health research is acknowledged in the implementation science literature. However, the accurate measurement of... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
The important role of leaders in the translation of health research is acknowledged in the implementation science literature. However, the accurate measurement of leadership traits and behaviours in health professionals has not been directly addressed. This review aimed to identify whether scales which measure leadership traits and behaviours have been found to be reliable and valid for use with health professionals.
METHODS
A systematic review was conducted. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane, CINAHL, Scopus, ABI/INFORMIT and Business Source Ultimate were searched to identify publications which reported original research testing the reliability, validity or acceptability of a leadership-related scale with health professionals.
RESULTS
Of 2814 records, a total of 39 studies met the inclusion criteria, from which 33 scales were identified as having undergone some form of psychometric testing with health professionals. The most commonly used was the Implementation Leadership Scale (n = 5) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (n = 3). Of the 33 scales, the majority of scales were validated in English speaking countries including the USA (n = 15) and Canada (n = 4), but also with some translations and use in Europe and Asia, predominantly with samples of nurses (n = 27) or allied health professionals (n = 10). Only two validation studies included physicians. Content validity and internal consistency were evident for most scales (n = 30 and 29, respectively). Only 20 of the 33 scales were found to satisfy the acceptable thresholds for good construct validity. Very limited testing occurred in relation to test-re-test reliability, responsiveness, acceptability, cross-cultural revalidation, convergent validity, discriminant validity and criterion validity.
CONCLUSIONS
Seven scales may be sufficiently sound to be used with professionals, primarily with nurses. There is an absence of validation of leadership scales with regard to physicians. Given that physicians, along with nurses and allied health professionals have a leadership role in driving the implementation of evidence-based healthcare, this constitutes a clear gap in the psychometric testing of leadership scales for use in healthcare implementation research and practice.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
This review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) (see Additional File 1) (PLoS Medicine. 6:e1000097, 2009) and the associated protocol has been registered with the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (Registration Number CRD42019121544 ).
Topics: Health Personnel; Humans; Leadership; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 34454567
DOI: 10.1186/s13012-021-01141-z -
Genes & Nutrition 2018There is a growing interest in assessing dietary intake more accurately across different population groups, and biomarkers have emerged as a complementary tool to... (Review)
Review
There is a growing interest in assessing dietary intake more accurately across different population groups, and biomarkers have emerged as a complementary tool to replace traditional dietary assessment methods. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature available and evaluate the applicability and validity of biomarkers of legume intake reported across various observational and intervention studies. A systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Knowledge identified 44 studies which met the inclusion criteria for the review. Results from observational studies focused on soy or soy-based foods and demonstrated positive correlations between soy intake and urinary, plasma or serum isoflavonoid levels in different population groups. Similarly, intervention studies demonstrated increased genistein and daidzein levels in urine and plasma following soy intake. Both genistein and daidzein exhibited dose-response relationships. Other isoflavonoid levels such as -desmethylangolensin (-DMA) and equol were also reported to increase following soy consumption. Using a developed scoring system, genistein and daidzein can be considered as promising candidate markers for soy consumption. Furthermore, genistein and daidzein also served as good estimates of soy intake as evidenced from long-term exposure studies marking their status as validated biomarkers. On the contrary, only few studies indicated proposed biomarkers for pulses intake, with pipecolic acid and -methylcysteine reported as markers reflecting dry bean consumption, unsaturated aliphatic, hydroxyl-dicarboxylic acid related to green beans intake and trigonelline reported as marker of peas consumption. However, data regarding criteria such as specificity, dose-response and time-response relationship, reliability, and feasibility to evaluate the validity of these markers is lacking. In conclusion, despite many studies suggesting proposed biomarkers for soy, there is a lack of information on markers of other different subtypes of legumes. Further discovery and validation studies are needed in order to identify reliable biomarkers of legume intake.
PubMed: 30214640
DOI: 10.1186/s12263-018-0614-6 -
Palliative Medicine Jan 2016Informal carers face many challenges in caring for patients with palliative care needs. Selecting suitable valid and reliable outcome measures to determine the impact of... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Informal carers face many challenges in caring for patients with palliative care needs. Selecting suitable valid and reliable outcome measures to determine the impact of caring and carers' outcomes is a common problem.
AIM
To identify outcome measures used for informal carers looking after patients with palliative care needs, and to evaluate the measures' psychometric properties.
DESIGN
A systematic review was conducted. The studies identified were evaluated by independent reviewers (C.T.J.M., M.B., M.P.). Data regarding study characteristics and psychometric properties of the measures were extracted and evaluated. Good psychometric properties indicate a high-quality measure.
DATA SOURCES
The search was conducted, unrestricted to publication year, in the following electronic databases: Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Social Sciences Citation Index and Sociological Abstracts.
RESULTS
Our systematic search revealed 4505 potential relevant studies, of which 112 studies met the inclusion criteria using 38 carer measures for informal carers of patients with palliative care needs. Psychometric properties were reported in only 46% (n = 52) of the studies, in relation to 24 measures. Where psychometric data were reported, the focus was mainly on internal consistency (n = 45, 87%), construct validity (n = 27, 52%) and/or reliability (n = 14, 27%). Of these, 24 measures, only four (17%) had been formally validated in informal carers in palliative care.
CONCLUSION
A broad range of outcome measures have been used for informal carers of patients with palliative care needs. Little formal psychometric testing has been undertaken. Furthermore, development and refinement of measures in this field is required.
Topics: Humans; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Palliative Care; Psychometrics; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 26407683
DOI: 10.1177/0269216315601930 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2022Using the self-reported questionnaire to assess the levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) has been a widely recognized method in public health and...
Is the Health Behavior in School-Aged Survey Questionnaire Reliable and Valid in Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Young Populations? A Systematic Review.
BACKGROUNDS
Using the self-reported questionnaire to assess the levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) has been a widely recognized method in public health and epidemiology research fields. The selected items of the Health Behavior in School-aged (HBSC) Survey Questionnaire have been used globally for measurements and assessments in PA and SB of children and adolescents. However, there are no comprehensive and critical reviews to assess the quality of studies on reliability and validity of selected items for PA and SB measurement and assessment derived from the HBSC. Thus, this review aimed to critically assess the quality of those studies and summary evidence for future recommendations.
METHODS
A systematic review protocol was used to search potentially eligible studies on assessing reliability and validity of PA and SB measures of the HBSC questionnaire. electronically academic databases were used. The information on the reliability and validity of the PA and SB measures were extracted and evaluated with well-recognized criteria or assessment tools.
RESULTS
After a literature search, six studies were included in this review. The reliability of PA measures of the HBSC questionnaire showed a moderate agreement while the reliability of SB measures showed a great variation across the different items in the different subgroups. The validity of the PA measures had acceptable performance, whereas no studies assess the validity of the SB measures. The included studies all had quality weaknesses on reliability or validity analysis.
CONCLUSIONS
The PA and SB measures of the HBSC questionnaires were reliable in assessing PA and SB among adolescents. However, a little evidence showed that PA measures are partially valid in assessing PA, but no evidence confirmed the validity of SB measures. The included studies all had methodological weaknesses in examining the reliability and validity of the PA and SB measures, which should be addressed in the future. Further studies are encouraged to use a more standardized study design to examine the reliability and validity of the PA and SB measures in more young populations.
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Exercise; Health Behavior; Humans; Reproducibility of Results; Sedentary Behavior; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 35419332
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.729641