Evaluation & the Health Professions最新文献

There is little research assessing substance use prevention programs designed for first generation, working, and ethnic minority college students. This study assessed the effectiveness of a multi-substance web-app prevention program implemented at a Hispanic Serving Institution in southern California. Participants (N = 1066) were randomly assigned to either a control, comparison, or 5 module web-app condition. Surveys assessing substance specific knowledge, perceived health risks, normative peer use, and past 30-day alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, and illicit drug use were administered at baseline, exit, and 90-day follow-up. At exit and 90-day follow up, students assigned to the web-app had significantly greater gains in substance specific knowledge, more accurate perceptions of campus peers' substance use, and the health risks associated with substance use than comparison or control group students. Moreover, web-app students had lower incidence rates of alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, and illicit drug use at exit with effects evident at 90-day follow up for alcohol, cannabis, and illicit drug use but not nicotine use. Given young adults preference for web-based technology, our findings underscore the benefits of developing, adopting, and implementing culturally sensitive substance use prevention programming using mHealth technology among diverse college populations.

This study investigates the effectiveness of a continuous nursing model in the postoperative rehabilitation of patients with lower extremity varicose veins. Using a randomised controlled trial design, we compared the outcomes of patients receiving continuous nursing care with those receiving routine care. The study included 120 patients divided equally into control and experimental groups. Outcomes were measured in terms of rehabilitation quality (wound healing time, lower extremity functional scale scores, complication rates) and quality of life (QoL). Significant improvements were seen in the experimental group across multiple measures, including faster wound healing (p < .05), better functional recovery (p < .01) and higher QoL scores (p < .01). These findings suggest that implementing a continuous nursing model can significantly enhance the postoperative rehabilitation and overall well-being of patients with lower extremity varicose veins.

This study aimed to evaluated the reliability and validity of the Turkish adaptation of the Questionnaire of Physiotherapeutic Specific Exercises of Scoliosis (QPSSE). Fifty-one individuals who had been performing scoliosis-specific exercises (PSSEs) for at least two months completed the QPSSE. Validity was analyzed by correlating the QPSSE with the Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) questionnaire and the Scoliosis Japanese Questionnaire-27 (SJ-27). The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to estimate test-retest reliability. The QPSSE demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .90 and .93) and test-retest reliability (ICC = .92, 95% confidence interval [.86-.95]). The QPSSE also demonstrated strong construct validity with the SRS-22 (r = -.57) and SJ-27 (r = -.66) total scores. The Turkish QPSSE is a valid and reliable questionnaire for evaluating the physical functioning, self-image, PSSEs, psychosocial functioning, cognitive functioning, compliance, motivation, and pain-related physiotherapeutic specific exercises of scoliosis in idiopathic scoliosis.

Innovation in healthcare is crucial for enhancing patient care and operational efficiency. Nurses often experience stress that may impede the process of innovation. This study utilizes the Job Demands-Resources model and Cognitive Appraisal Theory to investigate the impact of challenge stress, work rumination, and information literacy on the expression of innovative behaviors among nurses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in China in June 2024, involving a sample of 533 nurses. Participants were required to complete online questionnaires designed to evaluate challenge stress, work rumination, information literacy, and innovative behavior. The data collected were analyzed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. Challenge stress exhibited a statistically significant positive correlation with innovative behavior (r = 0.142, p < .01) and work rumination (r = 0.348, p < .01). The relationship between challenge stress and innovative behaviors was partially mediated by work rumination. Affective rumination was found to exert a negative influence, while problem-solving pondering demonstrated a positive impact. The relationship between work rumination and innovative behaviors was moderated by information literacy (β = 0.069, p = .019), indicating that the effects were more pronounced at higher levels of information literacy among nurses. Challenge stress enhances innovative behaviors through work rumination. The presence of information literacy further amplifies these positive effects, particularly via problem-solving pondering. However, it is important to note that affective rumination impede this process.

The goal of maintenance of certification (MOC) activities is to ensure physicians are up to date on current practices and demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to provide patients with optimal care. The program's aim is to promote professional development, lifelong learning and quality assurance for the public and medical community. However, physicians are not happy with the current structure of the program, claiming it to be time-consuming, expensive and ineffective for their practice. The lack of concrete evidence confirming the efficacy of MOC in improving knowledge and clinical outcomes causes many to question how this system can be improved to better serve practitioners and the public. In this commentary, we provide an overview of the current MOC situation for U.S. specialists and highlight the importance of increasing research to inform evidence-based changes that can be applied to clinical situations.

Existing research has shown that parental behavior can influence the onset and persistence of adolescent depression; however, the initial treatment guidelines do not include parental involvement, and there is no established protocol for engaging parents. For this study, the Doepressie parent training protocol was designed to teach parents ways to help their child cope with depression, and this study sought to evaluate the feasibility and changes in parenting of combining individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for adolescents with parent training. Because of the heterogeneity observed in adolescents with depression, a single-case design study with daily diaries for parents was conducted. Adolescents (N = 9; mean age = 15.9, SD = 1.05) with major depressive disorder and their parents participated in this study. Parents reported that the parent training was feasible. After treatment, two-thirds of the adolescents no longer met the criteria for major depressive disorder. Most of the parents reported positive effects on their child's mood and activity level, problem-solving skills with their child, and parental responsiveness and competence. Four parents demonstrated medium positive change. Involving parents in the treatment of adolescent depression has significant clinical benefits. Because of the heterogeneity of adolescent depression, the impact of parental involvement varies.

In the United States, only approximately one-third of students read at or above proficiency level. Moreover, the difference in reading proficiency of students is severely disproportionate for students with disabilities compared to students without disabilities. Reading fluency is a precursor for academic success and one of the six aspects of reading that contributes to effective reading skills. Many studies have examined the effectiveness of repeated reading to improve reading fluency. However, existing literature has mixed evaluations of whether repeated reading can be considered evidence-based reading intervention practice for students with disabilities. The current study examined the effects of a repeated reading intervention on reading fluency for three middle school students with learning disabilities. To address limitations of traditional single-case experimental design analytical methods such as visual analysis and nonoverlap indices, our study provided empirical researchers with a step-by-step procedure of using an advanced statistical method for single-case experimental designs, namely, generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to analyze data. The results presented by GLMMs showed that repeated reading intervention can significantly improve reading fluency for some students with learning disabilities. Implications, limitations, and future directions from both empirical and methodological perspectives were also discussed.

Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) have great potential to deal with count and rate data in single-case experimental designs (SCEDs). However, applied researchers face challenges to apply such an advanced approach in their own studies. Hence, our study aimed to provide a tutorial and demonstrate a step-by-step procedure of using GLMMs to handle SCED count and rate outcomes. We utilized an empirical examplewith a purpose to examine the effect of prelinguistic milieu teaching (PMT) on prelinguistic intentional communication for six school-age children with autism. The outcomes were sustained intentional communication (frequency count) and initiated intentional communication (rate). A step-by-step analytical approach with GLMMs was illustrated and associated R and SAS code was provided. The results overall supported the original conclusions of the effectiveness of PMT, whereas additional evidence regarding the precise estimate of the individual treatment effect and between-case variation of the treatment effect were also interpreted. The implications of the similarities and differences between the findings based on GLMMs and from the original study were discussed.

Parents with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience deficiencies in parenting skills leading to increased family burden, stress, mental health problems in children and even family violence. The present study evaluated a Dutch version of the parenting training based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for mothers with BPD. A multiple baseline single-case experimental design study was conducted with standardized and idiosyncratic assessments of parenting behavior and parental stress before, biweekly during, and after training. Participants (N = 10) were mothers with a BPD diagnosis with a child under the age of 6. Four participants discontinued the training. Among six training completers, clinically reliable improvements in parenting skills were most pronounced for inconsistent discipline, involvement, positive parenting and corporal punishment. Frequent, idiosyncratic assessments showed that for six mothers training had a positive effect on parenting skills, while for five mothers this effect was large. Overall, less improvement was found for parenting stress. DBT parenting training seems to have clinical value for mothers with BPD struggling with raising their children. Most prominent improvement was found in relation to mothers disciplining their child in a more consistent manner. The complexity and heterogeneity of mothers with BPD requires a more idiosyncratic, patient-centered approach. This study was registered (retrospectively) in ISRCTN (ID ISRCTN74447767). https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN74447767, March 2022.