Qualifying change: a method for defining clinically meaningful outcomes for change score computation

Article Abstract:

A novel approach that qualifies item-level change over time by the degree to which it is clinically meaningful has been used to identify clinically meaningful change in longitudinal assessment. The method was tested by application to changes in frequency ratings of the items of a behavioral assessment instrument used in clinical trials with Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. The method is flexible and allows both qualitative and quantitative analysis at the item level, but can be used globally. Itcan be used in areas other than behavior and in various populations and is being used to investigate utility of emergent behaviors as an outcome measure in a behavioral-disturbance clinical trial.

Planning, Usage, Medical care, Clinical trials, Statistics, Statistics (Data), Health risk assessment, Health status indicators, Experimental design, Research design

---

Assessment of agitation in Alzheimer's disease: The Agitated Behavior in Dementia Scale

Article Abstract:

The Agitated Behavior in Dementia Scale (ABID), made up of 16 items to evaluate frequency of and caregiver reaction to common agitated behaviors in dementia patients in the community, has been developed and evaluated for its psychometric properties. The ABID proved to be brief, easy to administer and to give objectively based observations to problems.

Psychological aspects, Diagnosis, Measurement, Complications and side effects, Dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Mental illness, Psychological tests, Aggressiveness (Psychology), Psychometrics, Psychiatric diagnosis

---

Weight, weight change, and mortality in a random sample of older community-dwelling women

Article Abstract:

Weight, weight change, and mortality have been investigated in a random sample of older community-dwelling women numbering 648, 106 of whom died in the folllowup period. Results indicate that white, older, women in this group are at increased risk of mortality if they are underweight or lose weight. Weight cycling is detrimental to their health.

Patient outcomes, Mortality, Weight loss, Weight gain, Body weight, Aged women, Elderly women, White women

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Surfing for freebies. Great sites for great bites. Shopping on the Web
• Abstracts: Age-related differences in the detection of three-dimensional surfaces from optic flow. Age-related differences in collision detection during deceleration
• Abstracts: Resources and life-management strategies as determinants of successful aging: On the protective effect of selection, optimization, and compensation
• Abstracts: Pessimism, age, and cancer mortality. Effects of pain on functioning and well-being in older adults with osteoarthritis of the knee
• Abstracts: Emotional behavior in long-term marriage. Divergent trajectories in the aging mind: Changes in working memory for affective versus visual information with age

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.