Formal psychological assessment in evaluating depression: a new methodology to build exhaustive and irredundant adaptive questionnaires.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Serra F
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4398546 | biostudies-other | 2015
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Similar Datasets
Project description:BackgroundEndometriosis is a condition that significantly affects the quality of life of about 10 % of reproductive-aged women. It is characterized by the presence of tissue similar to the uterine lining (endometrium) outside the uterus, which can lead lead scarring, adhesions, pain, and fertility issues. While numerous factors associated with endometriosis are documented, a wide range of symptoms may still be undiscovered.MethodsIn this study, we employed machine learning algorithms to predict endometriosis based on the patient symptoms extracted from 13,933 questionnaires. We compared the results of feature selection obtained from various algorithms (i.e., Boruta algorithm, Recursive Feature Selection) with experts' decisions. As a benchmark model architecture, we utilized a LightGBM algorithm, along with Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE) and k-nearest neighbors (KNN), for missing data imputation. Our primary objective was to assess the model's performance and feature importance compared to existing studies.ResultsWe identified the top 20 predictors of endometriosis, uncovering previously overlooked features such as Cesarean section, ovarian cysts, and hernia. Notably, the model's performance metrics were maximized when utilizing a combination of multiple feature selection methods. Specifically, the final model achieved an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.85 on the training dataset and an AUC of 0.82 on the testing dataset.ConclusionsThe application of machine learning in diagnosing endometriosis has the potential to significantly impact clinical practice, streamlining the diagnostic process and enhancing efficiency. Our questionnaire-based prediction approach empowers individuals with endometriosis to proactively identify potential symptoms, facilitating informed discussions with healthcare professionals about diagnosis and treatment options.
| S-EPMC10612251 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Recent advancements in the social impact assessment of science have shown the diverse methodologies being developed to monitor and evaluate the improvements for society as a result of research. These assessment methods include indicators to gather both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the social impact of science achieved in the short, medium, and long terms. In psychology, the impact of research has been mainly analyzed in relation to scientific publications in journals, but less is known about the methods for the social impact assessment of psychological research. Impact assessment in the domains of educational psychology and organizational psychology presents synergies with bottom-up approaches that include the voices of citizens and stakeholders in their analyses. Along these lines, the communicative methodology (CM) emerges as a methodology useful for the communicative evaluation of the social impact of research. Although the CM has widely demonstrated social impact in the social sciences, less is known about how it has been used and the impact achieved in psychological research. This article unpacks how to achieve social impact in psychology through the CM. In particular, it focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of the CM, the postulates linked to psychological research and some key actions for the implementation of the CM in relation to the design of Advisory Committees, working groups, and plenary meetings in research. Furthermore, it shows how the CM has been implemented in illustrative cases in psychological research. The article finishes with a conclusion and recommendations to further explore the ways in which the CM enables the social impact of research in psychology.
| S-EPMC7063089 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Wind turbine noise is one of the major obstacles for the widespread use of wind energy. Noise tone can greatly increase the annoyance factor and the negative impact on human health. Noise annoyance caused by wind turbines has become an emerging problem in recent years, due to the rapid increase in number of wind turbines, triggered by sustainable energy goals set forward at the national and international level. Up to now, not all aspects of the generation, propagation and perception of wind turbine noise are well understood. For a modern large wind turbine, aerodynamic noise from the blades is generally considered to be the dominant noise source, provided that mechanical noise is adequately eliminated. The sources of aerodynamic noise can be divided into tonal noise, inflow turbulence noise, and airfoil self-noise. Many analytical and experimental acoustical studies performed the wind turbines. Since the wind turbine noise level analyzing by numerical methods or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) could be very challenging and time consuming, soft computing techniques are preferred. To estimate noise level of wind turbine, this paper constructed a process which simulates the wind turbine noise levels in regard to wind speed and sound frequency with adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). This intelligent estimator is implemented using Matlab/Simulink and the performances are investigated. The simulation results presented in this paper show the effectiveness of the developed method.
| S-EPMC4116176 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Current attempts at methodological reform in sciences come in response to an overall lack of rigor in methodological and scientific practices in experimental sciences. However, most methodological reform attempts suffer from similar mistakes and over-generalizations to the ones they aim to address. We argue that this can be attributed in part to lack of formalism and first principles. Considering the costs of allowing false claims to become canonized, we argue for formal statistical rigor and scientific nuance in methodological reform. To attain this rigor and nuance, we propose a five-step formal approach for solving methodological problems. To illustrate the use and benefits of such formalism, we present a formal statistical analysis of three popular claims in the metascientific literature: (i) that reproducibility is the cornerstone of science; (ii) that data must not be used twice in any analysis; and (iii) that exploratory projects imply poor statistical practice. We show how our formal approach can inform and shape debates about such methodological claims.
| S-EPMC8101540 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This paper proposes and showcases a methodology to develop an observational behavior assessment instrument to assess psychological competencies of police officers. We outline a step-by-step methodology for police organizations to measure and evaluate behavior in a meaningful way to assess these competencies. We illustrate the proposed methodology with a practical example. We posit that direct behavioral observation can be key in measuring the expression of psychological competence in practice, and that psychological competence in practice is what police organizations should care about. We hope this paper offers police organizations a methodology to perform scientifically informed observational behavior assessment of their police officers' psychological competencies and inspires additional research efforts into this important area.
| S-EPMC7959728 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: Mentoring is associated with positive professional and personal outcomes. However, there are few published data on mentoring programs for pharmacists. OBJECTIVE: To develop and evaluate a mentorship program for hospital pharmacists that was implemented at St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, in Hamilton, Ontario, by identifying the benefits and challenges that participants experienced and determining whether the program provided the necessary skills for a successful mentoring relationship. METHODS: A descriptive pilot study was performed between June 2007 and November 2008. Focus groups and self-administered questionnaires were conducted at two time points (after 3-4 months and at the end of the study period). The focus groups were conducted separately for mentors and mentees. Data were summarized by predefined categories. Quantitative data from the questionnaires were summarized as medians, minimums, and maximums, and qualitative survey data were transcribed and reviewed. RESULTS: Three mentors were each paired with a mentee. The mentees identified an average of 4 learning objectives. All of the mentees reported improvements in their self-perceived level of competency and skill within the mentoring relationship and their confidence in their ability to perform the functions of a hospital pharmacist. The job satisfaction of both mentors and mentees improved. Reported challenges were related to scheduling and documentation. Mentors and mentees reported high levels of overall satisfaction with the program, at both of the evaluation time points. Participants spent less than 60 min/week each on mentoring activities. CONCLUSIONS: Both mentors and mentees benefited from the mentoring relationship.
| S-EPMC3093419 | biostudies-other
Project description:BACKGROUND:Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) translate subjective outcomes into objective data that can be quantified and analyzed. Nevertheless, the use of PROs in their traditional paper format is not practical for clinical practice due to limitations associated with the analysis and management of the data. To address the need for a viable way to group and utilize the main functioning assessment tools in the field of musculoskeletal disorders, the Physiotherapy Questionnaires app was developed. OBJECTIVE:This study aims to explain the development of the app, to validate it using two questionnaires, and to analyze whether participants prefer to use the app or the paper version of the questionnaires. METHODS:In the first stage, the app for an Android operational system was developed. In the second stage, the aim was to select questionnaires that were most often used in musculoskeletal clinical practice and research. The Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) and American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) questionnaire were selected to validate the app. In total, 50 participants completed the paper and app versions of the AOFAS and 50 completed the FAOS. The study's outcomes were the correlation of the data between the paper and app versions as well as the preference of the participants between the two versions. RESULTS:The app was approved by experts after the adaptations of the layout for mobile phones and a total of 18 questionnaires were included in the app. Moreover, the app allows the generation of PDF and Excel files with the patients' data. In regards to validity, the mean of the total scores of the FAOS were 91.54% (SD 8.86%) for the paper version and 91.74% (SD 9.20%) for the app. There was no statistically significant differences in the means of the total scores or the subscales (P=.11-.94). The mean total scores for the AOFAS were 93.94 (SD 8.47) for the paper version and 93.96 (SD 8.48) for the app. No statistically significant differences were found for the total scores for the AOFAS or the subscales (P>.99). The app showed excellent agreement with the paper version of the FAOS, with an ICC value of 0.98 for the total score (95% CI 0.98-0.99), which was also found for the AOFAS with the ICC for the total score of 0.99 (95% CI 0.98-0.99). For compliance, 72% (36/50) of the participants in the FAOS group and 94% (47/50) in the AOFAS group preferred the app version. CONCLUSIONS:The Physiotherapy Questionnaires app showed validity and high levels of compliance for the FAOS and AOFAS, which indicates it is not inferior to the paper version of these two questionnaires and confirms its viability and feasibility for use in clinical practice.
| S-EPMC5845103 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The application of integrated systems biology to the field of structural biology is a promising new direction, although it is still in the infant stages of development. Here we report the use of single particle cryo-EM to identify multiple proteins from three enriched heterogeneous fractions prepared from human liver mitochondrial lysate. We simultaneously identify and solve high-resolution structures of nine essential mitochondrial enzymes with key metabolic functions, including fatty acid catabolism, reactive oxidative species clearance, and amino acid metabolism. Our methodology also identified multiple distinct members of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase family. This work highlights the potential of cryo-EM to explore tissue proteomics at the atomic level.
| S-EPMC10709515 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesTo examine the effect of routinely administered psychiatric questionnaires on the recognition, management, and outcome of psychiatric disorders in non-psychiatric settings.Data sourcesEmbase, Medline, PsycLIT, Cinahl, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, and hand searches of key journals.MethodsA systematic review of randomised controlled trials of the administration and routine feedback of psychiatric screening and outcome questionnaires to clinicians in non-psychiatric settings. Narrative overview of key design features and end points, together with a random effects quantitative synthesis of comparable studies.Main outcome measuresRecognition of psychiatric disorders after feedback of questionnaire results; interventions for psychiatric disorders; and outcome of psychiatric disorders.ResultsNine randomised studies were identified that examined the use of common psychiatric instruments in primary care and general hospital settings. Studies compared the effect of the administration of these instruments followed by the feedback of the results to clinicians, with administration with no feedback. Meta-analytic pooling was possible for four of these studies (2457 participants), which measured the effect of feedback on the recognition of depressive disorders. Routine administration and feedback of scores for all patients (irrespective of score) did not increase the overall rate of recognition of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression (relative risk of detection of depression by clinician after feedback 0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.83 to 1.09). Two studies showed that routine administration followed by selective feedback for only high scorers increased the rate of recognition of depression (relative risk of detection of depression after feedback 2.64, 1.62 to 4.31). This increased recognition, however, did not translate into an increased rate of intervention. Overall, studies of routine administration of psychiatric measures did not show an effect on patient outcome.ConclusionsThe routine measurement of outcome is a costly exercise. Little evidence shows that it is of benefit in improving psychosocial outcomes of those with psychiatric disorder managed in non-psychiatric settings.
| S-EPMC26571 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Enhancing screening practices and developing scalable diagnostic tools are imperative in response to the increasing prevalence of youth mental health challenges. Structured lay psychiatric interviews have emerged as one such promising tool. However, there remains limited research evaluating structured psychiatric interviews, specifically their characterization of internalizing disorders in treatment-seeking youth. This study evaluates the relationship between the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA), a structured psychiatric interview, and established measures of pediatric anxiety and depression, including the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED), the Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale (PARS), and the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). The study comprised two independent clinical samples of treatment-seeking youth: sample one included 55 youth with anxiety and 29 healthy volunteers (HV), while sample two included 127 youth with Major Depressive Disorder and 73 HVs. We examined the association between the DAWBA band scores, indicating predicted risk for diagnosis, the SCARED and PARS (sample one), and the MFQ (sample two). An exploratory analysis was conducted in a subset of participants to test whether DAWBA band scores predicted the change in anxiety symptoms (SCARED, PARS) across a 12-week course of cognitive behavioral therapy. The results revealed that the DAWBA significantly predicted the SCARED, PARS and MFQ measures at baseline; however, it did not predict changes in anxiety symptoms across treatment. These findings suggest that the DAWBA may be a helpful screening tool for indexing anxiety and depression in treatment-seeking youth but is not especially predictive of longitudinal trajectories in symptomatology across psychotherapy.
| S-EPMC10800067 | biostudies-literature