The effectiveness of a digital game to improve public perception of dementia: A pretest-posttest evaluation.
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SUBMITTER: Carter G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8500403 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundRadiation, for either diagnosis or treatment, is used extensively in the field of oncology. An understanding of oncology radiation safety principles and how to apply them in practice is critical for nursing practice. Misconceptions about radiation are common, resulting in undue fears and concerns that may negatively impact patient care. Effectively educating nurses to help overcome these misconceptions is a challenge. Historically, radiation safety training programs for oncology nurses have been compliance-based and behavioral in philosophy.MethodsA new radiation safety training initiative was developed for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) adapting elements of current adult education theories to address common misconceptions and to enhance knowledge. A research design for evaluating the revised training program was also developed to assess whether the revised training program resulted in a measurable and/or statistically significant change in the knowledge or attitudes of nurses toward working with radiation. An evaluation research design based on a conceptual framework for measuring knowledge and attitude was developed and implemented using a pretest-intervention-posttest approach for 15% of the study population of 750 inpatient registered oncology nurses.ResultsAs a result of the intervention program, there was a significant difference in nurse's cognitive knowledge as measured with the test instrument from pretest (58.9%) to posttest (71.6%). The evaluation also demonstrated that while positive nursing attitudes increased, the increase was significant for only 5 out of 9 of the areas evaluated.ConclusionThe training intervention was effective for increasing cognitive knowledge, but was less effective at improving overall attitudes. This evaluation provided insights into the effectiveness of training interventions on the radiation safety knowledge and attitude of oncology nurses.
| S-EPMC1513562 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundShort videos on social media are playing an increasingly important role in cancer health education today. It is important to explore how the actual communication effect of health videos and the knowledge absorption of users are influenced by different factors of the video creation process.ObjectiveThe objective of our study is to access the factors influencing breast cancer health education through short videos on efficiency and quality.MethodsThree pairs of videos about breast health were created and participants completed questionnaires before and after watching the videos. A paired t-test was used to analyze within-group change scores. RM-ANOVA was used to assess the relationship between the pretest, posttest, and three variables.ResultsWatching short videos can significantly increase viewers' knowledge of related health topics (p < 0.05). The viewers' concentration level while watching was significantly higher for the video with background music (BGM) than for the video without BGM (p = 0.006). The viewers' willingness to share was significantly higher for the video with a progress bar than for the video without a progress bar (p = 0.02). Using an interpreter wearing a doctor's uniform instead of casual wear and setting a progress bar can significantly improve the efficiency of knowledge absorption (p < 0.05).ConclusionA uniformed interpreter, BGM and a progress bar are factors influencing the efficiency of short health videos. They can be applied in video making to explore better ways of promoting cancer health education in the new mobile Internet environment.
| S-EPMC10310936 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVE:Modern technologies are increasingly used in the development of cognitive interventions for older adults. Research into possible applications of virtual reality in such interventions has begun only recently. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effects of 8 sessions of VR-based cognitive training using the GRADYS game in healthy older adults (n?=?72; aged 60-88) and older adults living with mild dementia (n?=?27; aged 60-89). RESULTS:Older adults with mild dementia demonstrated worse baseline cognitive performance than participants without dementia. Both groups showed progress in training, which was greater in healthy older adults. There were also significant differences in cognitive functioning before and after the training. However, positive changes were revealed almost exclusively in the group of older adults without dementia. Based on the findings, we can recommend the GRADYS game for cognitive enhancement and as a possible counter-measure for cognitive decline experienced in normal cognitive ageing. Our results provide also support for the usefulness of VR technology in cognitive interventions in older adults. The use of the GRADYS game in persons living with dementia, however, would require several of the hardware and software modifications. Trial registration ISRCTN17613444, date of registration: 10.09.2019. Retrospectively registered.
| S-EPMC6882084 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Strengthening pre-adolescents knowledge and skills through an age- and culturally-appropriate intervention could prevent health issues later in life. Early interventions could influence the trajectory of future risky behaviour, and may influence health behaviour amongst their parents. The CIrCLE of Life Initiative was developed to address HIV and obesity. We evaluated whether the combined intervention increased knowledge, enhanced skills, and/or promoted healthy behaviour among students (9-12 years old) and their parents. The study was conducted from May to December 2018. Trained educators delivered 30-min lessons over ten consecutive weeks with 537 Grade 6 students at five government-run schools, in a district, in South Africa. Schools were purposively selected based on socioeconomic status and urban-rural classification. Students communicated with parents through shared homework activities. A pretest-posttest study design was used, with a 3-month follow up. Both groups completed self-administered paper-based questionnaires. A score of subscales was used in analysis. The pretest and posttest scores were compared for students and parents using a dependent t-test. Differences in outcomes by school quintile were compared using one-way ANOVA. Response rates were high for both students (80.6%) and their parents (83.4%). Statistically significant differences were observed in HIV knowledge in students pretest (mean 8.04, SD 3.10) and posttest scores (mean 10.1, SD 2.70; p < 0.01), and their parents (mean 10.32, SD 2.80 vs 11.0, SD 2.50; p < 0.01). For both students and parents, pre- and post-test obesity awareness mean scores were similar, 1.93, SD 0.92 and 2.78, SD 0.57; p < 0.01, for students; and 2.47, SD 0.82 and 2.81, SD 0.54; p < 0.01, for parents. In the posttest, statistically significant changes were also observed in both groups, enhancing skills in measuring body mass index and pulse rate, and interpreting food labels. Students had a high intention to share gained knowledge with parents who had a high intention to receive it (89.4 and 89.5%, respectively). The intervention increased knowledge about HIV and obesity-related awareness, and it enhanced skills in selected outcomes among pre-adolescents and parents. Accurate messages and enhanced communication skills could support inter-generational knowledge transfer. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04307966 retrospectively registered on 12 March 2020.
| S-EPMC8665511 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Objectives: Australian general practitioners (GPs) are pivotal in mental health care. The REFOCUS-PULSAR (Principles Unite Local Services Assisting Recovery) primary care study aimed to improve personal recovery outcomes in adults with mental health problems consulting GPs. Design: Modified from an intended stepped-wedge cluster study, an exploratory (pre- and post-intervention) design employed cross-sectional surveys of patients consulting GPs. Setting: Eighteen primary care sites (clusters) in Victoria, Australia in 2013-2017. Participants: From 30 GPs recruited, 23 participated (76%), with 235 patient surveys returned from adults aged <75 years receiving mental health care. Intervention: A co-delivered face-to-face training intervention for GPs in recovery-oriented practice (ROP), with personal recovery a key focus, used multimedia, mnemonics, and targeted interview schedules to encourage ROP-with availability of support sessions for 1 year. Outcome Measures: Primary: the Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery full-scale score (outcome). Secondary: INSPIRE (experience), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) (outcomes). Other: General-practice-Users Perceived-need Inventory (experience). Results: Small positive significant effects indicated primary-outcome post-intervention improvements [t-test (233) = -2.23, p = 0.01], also improvement in two secondary outcomes (WEMWBS t(233) = -2.12, p = 0.02 and K10 t(233) = 2.44, p = 0.01). More patients post-intervention reported "no need" for further help from their GP; but in those reporting needs, there was greater unmet need for counseling. Conclusions: ROP implementation, internationally influential in specialist mental health care, here is explored in primary care where it has had less attention. These exploratory findings suggest better patient outcomes followed introducing GPs to ROP in routine practice conditions. Higher unmet need for counseling post-intervention reported by patients might be a sign of limited supply despite ROP facilitating better identification of needs. Challenges in project implementation means that these findings carry risks of bias and flag the importance establishing research infrastructure in primary care. Clinical Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov/, The Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry Identifier: ACTRN12614001312639.
| S-EPMC8006334 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A common situation in the evaluation of intervention programs is the researcher's possibility to rely on two waves of data only (i.e., pretest and posttest), which profoundly impacts on his/her choice about the possible statistical analyses to be conducted. Indeed, the evaluation of intervention programs based on a pretest-posttest design has been usually carried out by using classic statistical tests, such as family-wise ANOVA analyses, which are strongly limited by exclusively analyzing the intervention effects at the group level. In this article, we showed how second order multiple group latent curve modeling (SO-MG-LCM) could represent a useful methodological tool to have a more realistic and informative assessment of intervention programs with two waves of data. We offered a practical step-by-step guide to properly implement this methodology, and we outlined the advantages of the LCM approach over classic ANOVA analyses. Furthermore, we also provided a real-data example by re-analyzing the implementation of the Young Prosocial Animation, a universal intervention program aimed at promoting prosociality among youth. In conclusion, albeit there are previous studies that pointed to the usefulness of MG-LCM to evaluate intervention programs (Muthén and Curran, 1997; Curran and Muthén, 1999), no previous study showed that it is possible to use this approach even in pretest-posttest (i.e., with only two time points) designs. Given the advantages of latent variable analyses in examining differences in interindividual and intraindividual changes (McArdle, 2009), the methodological and substantive implications of our proposed approach are discussed.
| S-EPMC5332425 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionStigma and discrimination are important barriers to HIV epidemic control. We implemented a multi-pronged facility-level intervention to reduce stigma and discrimination at health facilities across three high-burden provinces. Key components of the intervention included measurement of stigma, data review and use, participatory training of healthcare workers (HCWs), and engagement of people living with HIV and key populations in all stigma reduction activities.MethodsFrom July 2018 to July 2019, we assessed HIV-related stigma and discrimination among patients and HCWs at 10 facilities at baseline and 9 months following an intervention. A repeated measures design was used to assess the change in stigma and discrimination among HCWs and a repeated cross-sectional design assessed the change in stigma and discrimination experienced by PLHIV. HCWs at target facilities were invited at random and PLHIV were recruited when presenting for care during the two assessment periods. McNemar's test was used to compare paired proportions among HCWs, and chi-square test was used to compare proportions among PLHIV. Mixed models were used to compare outcomes before and after the intervention.ResultsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 649 and 652 PLHIV prior to and following the intervention, respectively. At baseline, over the previous 12 months, 21% reported experiencing discrimination, 16% reported self-stigma, 14% reported HIV disclosure without consent and 7% had received discriminatory reproductive health advice. Nine months after the intervention, there was a decrease in reported stigma and discrimination across all domains to 15%, 11%, 7% and 3.5%, respectively (all p-values <0.05). Among HCWs, 672 completed the pre- and post-intervention assessment. At baseline, 81% reported fear of HIV infection, 69% reported using unnecessary precautions when caring for PLHIV, 44% reported having observed other staff discriminate against PLHIV, 54% reported negative attitudes towards PLHIV and 41% felt uncomfortable working with colleagues living with HIV. The proportions decreased after the intervention to 52%, 34%, 32%, 35% and 24%, respectively (all p-values <0.05).ConclusionsA multi-pronged facility-level intervention was successful at reducing healthcare-associated HIV-related stigma in Vietnam. The findings support the scale-up of this intervention in Vietnam and highlight key components potentially applicable in other settings.
| S-EPMC9274370 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mediation analysis is a statistical technique for investigating the extent to which a mediating variable transmits the relation of an independent variable to a dependent variable. Because it is useful in many fields, there have been rapid developments in statistical mediation methods. The most cutting-edge statistical mediation analysis focuses on the causal interpretation of mediated effect estimates. Cause-and-effect inferences are particularly challenging in mediation analysis because of the difficulty of randomizing subjects to levels of the mediator (MacKinnon, 2008). The focus of this paper is how incorporating longitudinal measures of the mediating and outcome variables aides in the causal interpretation of mediated effects. This paper provides useful SAS® tools for designing adequately powered studies to detect the mediated effect. Three SAS macros were developed using the powerful but easy-to-use REG, CALIS, and SURVEYSELECT procedures to do the following: (1) implement popular statistical models for estimating the mediated effect in the pretest-posttest control group design; (2) conduct a prospective power analysis for determining the required sample size for detecting the mediated effect; and (3) conduct a retrospective power analysis for studies that have already been conducted and a required sample to detect an observed effect is desired. We demonstrate the use of these three macros with an example.
| S-EPMC6133302 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSocial distancing measures to address the US coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic may have notable health and social impacts.Methods and findingsWe conducted a longitudinal pretest-posttest comparison group study to estimate the change in COVID-19 case growth before versus after implementation of statewide social distancing measures in the US. The primary exposure was time before (14 days prior to, and through 3 days after) versus after (beginning 4 days after, to up to 21 days after) implementation of the first statewide social distancing measures. Statewide restrictions on internal movement were examined as a secondary exposure. The primary outcome was the COVID-19 case growth rate. The secondary outcome was the COVID-19-attributed mortality growth rate. All states initiated social distancing measures between March 10 and March 25, 2020. The mean daily COVID-19 case growth rate decreased beginning 4 days after implementation of the first statewide social distancing measures, by 0.9% per day (95% CI -1.4% to -0.4%; P < 0.001). We did not observe a statistically significant difference in the mean daily case growth rate before versus after implementation of statewide restrictions on internal movement (0.1% per day; 95% CI -0.04% to 0.3%; P = 0.14), but there is substantial difficulty in disentangling the unique associations with statewide restrictions on internal movement from the unique associations with the first social distancing measures. Beginning 7 days after social distancing, the COVID-19-attributed mortality growth rate decreased by 2.0% per day (95% CI -3.0% to -0.9%; P < 0.001). Our analysis is susceptible to potential bias resulting from the aggregate nature of the ecological data, potential confounding by contemporaneous changes (e.g., increases in testing), and potential underestimation of social distancing due to spillover effects from neighboring states.ConclusionsStatewide social distancing measures were associated with a decrease in the COVID-19 case growth rate that was statistically significant. Statewide social distancing measures were also associated with a decrease in the COVID-19-attributed mortality growth rate beginning 7 days after implementation, although this decrease was no longer statistically significant by 10 days.
| S-EPMC7418951 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundA scientific, personalized, and quantitative exercise prescription that has the potential to be an important therapeutic agent for all ages in the prevention of chronic disease is highly recommended. However, it is often poorly implemented, as clinicians lack the necessary knowledge and skills while participants have low adherence due to design defects (eg, prescriptions fail to take individual willingness, the appeal of exercise, and complex physical conditions into account). Intelligent personalized prescription is thus worth exploring.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate whether a year-long cloud platform-based and intelligent personalized exercise prescription intervention could improve Chinese middle-aged and older adult community dwellers' health outcomes.MethodsA total of 177 participants (aged 52-85 years; mean 67.93, SD 7.05) were recruited from 2 Chinese community health service centers in Anhui Province, China. The exercise intervention was delivered over 12 months with a single-group pretest-posttest design. After being assessed in terms of physical activity, health-related lifestyle, history of chronic diseases and drug use, family history of disease and cardiovascular function, body composition, bone mineral density, and physical fitness through an eHealth promotion system, participants with relative contraindications for exercise were personally prescribed the health care exercise mode by an intelligent system, while those without relative contraindication and who had a regular exercise habit were prescribed the scientific fitness mode. Paired t tests were used for the analysis.ResultsA total of 97 participants were classified into the health care mode, and the remaining 80 participants were assigned to the scientific fitness mode. Significant changes in heart rate (mean difference [MD] 2.97; 95% CI 1.1-4.84; P=.002), subendocardial viability ratio (MD -0.13; CI: -1.19 to -0.63; P<.001), weight (MD 0.99; CI 0.29-1.69; P=.006), BMI (MD 0.38; CI 0.11-0.64; P=.006), body fat rate (MD 0.88; CI 0.24-1.51; P=.007), fat mass (MD 0.92; CI 0.33-1.53; P=.003), and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (MD: -0.72; CI -1.17 to -0.27; P=.002) were observed among participants with the health care mode exercise prescriptions at the 12-month postintervention versus the baseline assessment, while no changes in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, muscle mass, bone mineral density, t value, z value, balance, or ability were discerned. The results showed a functional decline in the physical fitness of both groups, including in handgrip strength (healthcare mode: MD 4.41; scientific fitness mode: MD 3.11), vital capacity (healthcare mode: MD 261.99; scientific fitness mode: MD 250.78), and agility (healthcare mode MD=-0.35; scientific fitness mode: MD=-0.39) with all P values <.001, except handgrip strength in the scientific fitness mode (P=.002). There were no significant differences in other parameters among participants with scientific fitness mode exercise prescriptions.ConclusionsThe observations suggest that our exercise prescription intervention program might promote certain health outcomes in Chinese middle-aged and older adult community dwellers, yet we are unable to recommend such a program given the existing limitations. Future randomized controlled trials with diverse samples are warranted to confirm our findings.
| S-EPMC8185615 | biostudies-literature