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Journal of Speech, Language, and... Mar 2022This systematic review and meta-analysis estimates the overall language skills of youth offenders involved with the juvenile justice system. Given the importance of this... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
PURPOSE
This systematic review and meta-analysis estimates the overall language skills of youth offenders involved with the juvenile justice system. Given the importance of this population, identifying avenues through which we can increase the likelihood of successful interventions is a necessary societal effort.
METHOD
Eighteen studies, representing data from 3,304 individuals, contributed 82 effect sizes to the current analytic sample. We used random-effects models to estimate the overall mean effect size metric to address each research question and fit meta-regression models for each moderator analysis.
RESULTS
Results yielded that youth offenders presented with significantly lower language skills than their nonoffending peers ( = -1.26). Furthermore, high proportions of the present meta-analytic sample were classified as youth with moderate (50%) and severe (10%) language disorders. In general, differences in language skills did not vary as a function of age, gender, or language measure type. We did detect significant differences as a function of sample country and type of peer comparison group.
CONCLUSIONS
This meta-analysis reports on the significantly compromised language skills of youth offenders. We conclude with a discussion of the findings and consideration of the implications for research and practice.
Topics: Adolescent; Criminals; Humans; Language; Language Disorders; Peer Group
PubMed: 35114804
DOI: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-20-00308 -
Nurse Education Today May 2021To synthesize the definitions of nursing students' academic outcomes and provide a quantitative synthesis of their associated and predictive factors. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
OBJECTIVES
To synthesize the definitions of nursing students' academic outcomes and provide a quantitative synthesis of their associated and predictive factors.
DESIGN
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
DATA SOURCES
Four scientific databases were searched until January 2020.
REVIEW METHODS
Observational studies describing undergraduate nursing students' academic outcomes were included. Studies were analytically synthesized and meta-analyses were performed utilizing the Odds Ratio or Cohen's d as effect sizes.
RESULTS
Eighteen studies, published from 1979 to 2018, were included in the review, nine were meta-analyzed. Studies involved 10,024 undergraduate nursing students and were mostly retrospective cohort (55.6%). Students were mostly female (75.4%) with a mean age ranging from 21.3 to 27.0 years. Meta-analysis revealed that being female (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.26 to 2.12), having attended a Classical, Scientific or Academic high school (OR = 1.30, 95% IC = 1.16 to 1.46), and having reported higher final grades at the upper-secondary high school (Cohen's d = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.18 to 0.65) was significantly associated with student's ability to graduate within the regular duration of the program. Sensitivity analyses confirmed meta-analytic results and meta-analyses heterogeneity depended on study design. Contrasting and limited evidence were found for other investigated factors, and for academic outcomes different from graduation within the regular duration of the program.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite meta-analytic results, gender and upper-secondary school would be unethical students' entry selection criteria. Final upper-secondary school grades should be considered for this scope and purpose. Conflicting and limited evidence found for other factors, such as students' background, suggested the influence of local contexts on the phenomenon and its investigation. Investigating the role of modifiable individual variables, such as empathy and critical thinking, could contribute to the open debate about students' entry selection strategies. An improvement in methodological quality of future studies is recommended and expected.
Topics: Adult; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; Female; Humans; Male; Retrospective Studies; School Admission Criteria; Students, Nursing; Thinking; Young Adult
PubMed: 33676348
DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2021.104823 -
European Neuropsychopharmacology : the... Nov 2019Altered stress response and consequent elevated levels of circulating glucocorticoids have been found in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression or anxiety... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Altered stress response and consequent elevated levels of circulating glucocorticoids have been found in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression or anxiety disorders and proposed to also play a role in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Despite the observation that stressful events may precede the disease onset or even exacerbate its symptoms, studies in this field do not always report consistent results regarding the cortisol profile of OCD patients. As such, a systematic review and meta-analysis was developed to clarify this issue. This systematic review and meta-analysis was elaborated according to the PRISMA method. The analytical procedures were implemented using Metafor package in R software. Nineteen studies were included in the systematic review and 18 were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analytic results demonstrated that OCD patients had significantly higher cortisol levels compared to controls (d = 0.76, SE = 0.146, p < 0.001). For studies using the average of multiple assessments, the standardized coefficient was significantly higher when compared to studies focusing on single measurements. Both the systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that cortisol levels are significantly higher in OCD patients than healthy individuals.
Topics: Humans; Hydrocortisone; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
PubMed: 31540796
DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.09.001 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Feb 2023Health care systems have become increasingly more reliant on patients' ability to navigate the digital world. However, little research has been conducted on why some...
BACKGROUND
Health care systems have become increasingly more reliant on patients' ability to navigate the digital world. However, little research has been conducted on why some communities are less able or less likely to successfully engage with digital health technologies (DHTs), particularly among culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) populations.
OBJECTIVE
This systematic review aimed to determine the barriers to and facilitators of interacting with DHTs from the perspectives of CaLD population groups, including racial or ethnic minority groups, immigrants and refugees, and Indigenous or First Nations people.
METHODS
A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies was conducted. Peer-reviewed literature published between January 2011 and June 2022 was searched across 3 electronic databases. Terms for digital health were combined with terms for cultural or linguistic diversity, ethnic minority groups, or Indigenous and First Nations people and terms related to barriers to accessing digital technologies. A qualitative thematic synthesis was conducted to identify descriptive and analytical themes of barriers to and facilitators of interacting with DHTs. Quality appraisal was performed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
RESULTS
Of the 1418 studies identified in the electronic search, a total of 34 (2.4%) were included in this review. Half of the included studies (17/34, 50%) were conducted in the United States. There was considerable variation in terms of the CaLD backgrounds of the participants. In total, 26% (9/34) of the studies focused on Indigenous or First Nations communities, 41% (14/34) were conducted among ethnic minority populations, 15% (5/34) of the studies were conducted among immigrants, and 18% (6/34) were conducted in refugee communities. Of the 34 studies, 21 (62%) described the development or evaluation of a digital health intervention, whereas 13 (38%) studies did not include an intervention but instead focused on elucidating participants' views and behaviors in relation to digital health. From the 34 studies analyzed, 18 descriptive themes were identified, each describing barriers to and facilitators of interacting with DHTs, which were grouped into 7 overarching analytical themes: using technology, design components, language, culture, health and medical, trustworthiness, and interaction with others.
CONCLUSIONS
This study identified several analytic and descriptive themes influencing access to and uptake of DHTs among CaLD populations, including Indigenous and First Nations groups. We found that cultural factors affected all identified themes to some degree and that cultural and linguistic perspectives should be considered in the design and delivery of DHTs, with this best served through the inclusion of the target communities at all stages of development. This may improve the potential of DHTs to be more acceptable, appropriate, and accessible to population groups currently at risk of not obtaining the full benefits of digital health.
Topics: Humans; American Indian or Alaska Native; Digital Technology; Ethnicity; Minority Groups; Social Group; Health Services Accessibility
PubMed: 36853742
DOI: 10.2196/42719 -
AIDS and Behavior Aug 2016Reporting key details of respondent-driven sampling (RDS) survey implementation and analysis is essential for assessing the quality of RDS surveys. RDS is both a... (Review)
Review
Reporting key details of respondent-driven sampling (RDS) survey implementation and analysis is essential for assessing the quality of RDS surveys. RDS is both a recruitment and analytic method and, as such, it is important to adequately describe both aspects in publications. We extracted data from peer-reviewed literature published through September, 2013 that reported collected biological specimens using RDS. We identified 151 eligible peer-reviewed articles describing 222 surveys conducted in seven regions throughout the world. Most published surveys reported basic implementation information such as survey city, country, year, population sampled, interview method, and final sample size. However, many surveys did not report essential methodological and analytical information for assessing RDS survey quality, including number of recruitment sites, seeds at start and end, maximum number of waves, and whether data were adjusted for network size. Understanding the quality of data collection and analysis in RDS is useful for effectively planning public health service delivery and funding priorities.
Topics: Biological Products; Data Collection; HIV Infections; Homosexuality, Male; Humans; Male; Population Surveillance; Sample Size; Sampling Studies; Sexual Behavior; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 26992395
DOI: 10.1007/s10461-016-1346-5 -
Biochemia Medica 2015This systematic review presents the latest trends in salivary research and its applications in health and disease. Among the large number of analytes present in saliva,... (Review)
Review
This systematic review presents the latest trends in salivary research and its applications in health and disease. Among the large number of analytes present in saliva, many are affected by diverse physiological and pathological conditions. Further, the non-invasive, easy and cost-effective collection methods prompt an interest in evaluating its diagnostic or prognostic utility. Accumulating data over the past two decades indicates towards the possible utility of saliva to monitor overall health, diagnose and treat various oral or systemic disorders and drug monitoring. Advances in saliva based systems biology has also contributed towards identification of several biomarkers, development of diverse salivary diagnostic kits and other sensitive analytical techniques. However, its utilization should be carefully evaluated in relation to standardization of pre-analytical and analytical variables, such as collection and storage methods, analyte circadian variation, sample recovery, prevention of sample contamination and analytical procedures. In spite of all these challenges, there is an escalating evolution of knowledge with the use of this biological matrix.
Topics: Animals; Biomarkers; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Humans; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Saliva; Sensitivity and Specificity; Specimen Handling; Systems Biology
PubMed: 26110030
DOI: 10.11613/BM.2015.018 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2021This systematic review adopts a formal and structured approach to review the intersection of data science and smart tourism destinations in terms of components found in...
This systematic review adopts a formal and structured approach to review the intersection of data science and smart tourism destinations in terms of components found in previous research. The study period corresponds to 1995-2021 focusing the analysis mainly on the last years (2015-2021), identifying and characterizing the current trends on this research topic. The review comprises documentary research based on bibliometric and conceptual analysis, using the VOSviewer and SciMAT software to analyze articles from the Web of Science database. There is growing interest in this research topic, with more than 300 articles published annually. Data science technologies on which current smart destinations research is based include big data, smart data, data analytics, social media, cloud computing, the internet of things (IoT), smart card data, geographic information system (GIS) technologies, open data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Critical research areas for data science techniques and technologies in smart destinations are public tourism marketing, mobility-accessibility, and sustainability. Data analysis techniques and technologies face unprecedented challenges and opportunities post-coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) to build on the huge amount of data and a new tourism model that is more sustainable, smarter, and safer than those previously implemented.
PubMed: 34393952
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712610 -
Biological Trace Element Research Jun 2014Breast cancer is the most common cancer type. In several studies, hints have been provided that there is a correlation between selenium deficiency and the incidence of... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Breast cancer is the most common cancer type. In several studies, hints have been provided that there is a correlation between selenium deficiency and the incidence of breast cancer. Findings of these published reports are, however, inconsistent. This study serves as a pioneering study aiming at combining the results of studies using a meta-analytic method. A total of 16 articles published between 1980 and 2012 worldwide were selected through searching PubMed, Scopus, and Google scholar databases, and the information were analyzed using a meta-analytic method [random effects model]. I (2) statistics were used to examine heterogeneity. The information was then analyzed by STATA version 12. In this study, due to the non-uniform methods used to measure selenium concentrations, selenium levels were measured in the various subgroups in both case and control groups. There were significant correlations between selenium concentration and breast cancer [P<0.05]. Hence, the mean risk differentiating criteria were estimated to be 0.63 [95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.93 to 0.32] in serum and toenails. Subgroup analysis showed that the value in toenails was -0.07 [95% CI -0.16 to 0.03] and in serum -1.04 [95% CI 1.71 to -0.38]. In studies in which selenium concentrations were measured in serum, a significant correlation was observed between selenium concentration and breast cancer. In contrast, in studies in which selenium concentration was measured in toenails, the correlation was not significant. Therefore, the selenium concentration can be used as one predictor for breast cancer.
Topics: Breast Neoplasms; Confidence Intervals; Female; Humans; Nails; Selenium
PubMed: 24859854
DOI: 10.1007/s12011-014-9998-3 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Dec 2020Robotics technology has become increasingly common both for businesses and for private citizens. Primary and secondary schools, as a mirror of societal evolution, have...
Robotics technology has become increasingly common both for businesses and for private citizens. Primary and secondary schools, as a mirror of societal evolution, have increasingly integrated science, technology, engineering and math concepts into their curricula. Our research questions are: "In teaching robotics to primary and secondary school students, which pedagogical-methodological interventions result in better understanding and knowledge in the use of sensors in educational robotics?", and "In teaching robotics to primary and secondary school students, which analytical methods related to Learning Analytics processes are proposed to analyze and reflect on students' behavior in their learning of concepts and skills of sensors in educational robotics?". To answer these questions, we have carried out a systematic review of the literature in the Web of Science and Scopus databases regarding robotics sensors in primary and secondary education, and Learning Analytics processes. We applied PRISMA methodology and reviewed a total of 24 articles. The results show a consensus about the use of the Learning by Doing and Project-Based Learning methodologies, including their different variations, as the most common methodology for achieving optimal engagement, motivation and performance in students' learning. Finally, future lines of research are identified from this study.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Humans; Learning; Motivation; Robotics; Schools; Students
PubMed: 33383709
DOI: 10.3390/s21010153 -
BMC Cancer Oct 2017Conduct a systematic review of previous systematic reviews with meta-analysis to determine the effects of exercise (aerobic, strength or both) on cancer-related-fatigue... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Conduct a systematic review of previous systematic reviews with meta-analysis to determine the effects of exercise (aerobic, strength or both) on cancer-related-fatigue (CRF) in adults with any type of cancer.
METHODS
Systematic reviews with meta-analyses of previous randomized controlled trials published through July of 2016 were included by searching six electronic databases and cross-referencing. Dual-selection and data abstraction were conducted. Methodological quality was assessed using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) instrument. Standardized mean differences (SMD) that were pooled using random-effects models were included as the effect size. In addition, 95% prediction intervals (PI), number needed-to-treat (NNT) and percentile improvements were calculated.
RESULTS
Sixteen studies representing 2 to 48 SMD effect sizes per analysis (mean ± SD, 7 ± 8, median = 5) and 37 to 3254 participants (mean ± SD, 633 ± 690, median = 400) were included. Length of training lasted from 3 to 52 weeks (mean ± SD, 14.6 ± 3.1, median = 14), frequency from 1 to 10 times per week (mean ± SD, 3.4 ± 0.8, median = 3), and duration from 10 to 120 min per session (mean ± SD, 44.3 ± 5.5, median = 45). Adjusted AMSTAR scores ranged from 44.4% to 80.0% (mean ± SD, 68.8% ± 12.0%, median = 72.5%). Overall, mean SMD improvements in CRF ranged from -1.05 to -0.01, with 22 of 55 meta-analytic results (52.7%) statistically significant (non-overlapping 95% CI). When PI were calculated for results with non-overlapping 95% CI, only 3 of 25 (12%) yielded non-overlapping 95% PI favoring reductions in CRF. Number needed-to-treat and percentile improvements ranged from 3 to 16 and 4.4 to 26.4, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
A lack of certainty exists regarding the benefits of exercise on CRF in adults. However, exercise does not appear to increase CRF in adults.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
PROSPERO Registration # CRD42016045405 .
Topics: Adult; Aged; Exercise; Fatigue; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Models, Statistical; Neoplasms; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 29058631
DOI: 10.1186/s12885-017-3687-5