Search results for "Internal validity"
showing 6 items of 16 documents
Evaluation of Treatment Integrity: The Treatment Specificity Index
2015
Objective To differentiate between treatments in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), therapies need to display not only high purity but also high specificity. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the benefits of calculating a treatment specificity index for the evaluation of treatment differentiation. Method Based on an RCT of relapse prevention in depression, comparing a cognitive with a psychoeducational treatment, the specificity and the purity index were calculated. Results As indicated by the specificity index, both conditions differed in their levels of implemented specific and common interventions. A significant relationship was found between symptom change before a therapy sess…
Randomized Controlled Trials and real life studies. Approaches and methodologies: a clinical point of view.
2014
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the "gold standard" for evaluating treatment outcomes providing information on treatments "efficacy". They are designed to test a therapeutic hypothesis under optimal setting in the absence of confounding factors. For this reason they have high internal validity. The strict and controlled conditions in which they are conducted, leads to low generalizability because they are performed in conditions very different from real life usual care. Conversely, real life studies inform on the "effectiveness" of a treatment, that is, the measure of the extent to which an intervention does what is intended to do in routine circumstances. At variance to RCTs, real …
A new questionnaire specifically designed for patients affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
2006
Summary The aim of this study was to develop a specific and valid questionnaire for Italian COPD patients, living on the north or the south of Italy—which are two culturally distinct areas. The project consisted in three steps: (1) initial item set generation to identify items relevant to both genders, all ages and both regions; (2) item reduction including tests of regional specificity; (3) tests of internal validity using item-response theory using Rasch one-parameter modelling. Ninty-six COPD patients (mean aged 69 yr; 78 Male) completed the original set of 124 items of the Italian Health Status Questionnaire (IHSQ). Item reduction was carried out using an established standardised approa…
The evidence of neuraxial administration of analgesics for cancer-related pain: a systematic review
2015
Background The present systematic review analysed the existing evidence of analgesic efficacy and side effects of opioids without and with adjuvant analgesics delivered by neuraxial route (epidural and subarachnoid) in adult patients with cancer. Methods Search strategy was elaborated with words related to cancer, pain, neuraxial route, analgesic and side effects. The search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane for the period until February 2014. Studies were analysed according to methods, results, quality of evidence, and strength of recommendation. Results The number of abstracts retrieved was 2147, and 84 articles were selected for full reading. The final selection comprised nin…
Development and Psychometric Validation of the Brief Nurses' Practice Environment Scale and Its Relation to Burnout Syndrome and Job Satisfaction: A …
2020
Introduction: Nursing environment is a vast concept that traditionally has included a wide range of job characteristics and has been related to burnout and job satisfaction. For its measurement, the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PESNWI) stands out. However, shorter instruments are needed. The purpose of the study is to develop and test the Brief Nurses' Practice Environment (BNPE) Scale.Methods: The BNPE Scale was developed and tested in a sample of 210 Spanish nurses (data collection 2018).Results: Cronbach's alpha was 0.702. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), with an excellent fit, offered evidence of internal validity. Regarding validity, the BNPE Scale predi…
Style partycypacji kulturalnej człowieka dorosłego. Walidacja narzędzia pomiarowego
2018
The article presents a measurement tool validation process diagnosing an adult person’s cultural participation styles. Its objective is to describe the obtained results at individual stages of the validation and determine the connection between cultural participation styles and cultural systems presented by sociologists of culture. Consequently, cultural participation style of an adult person is the subject of the research. The pilot studies as well as the actual research have been conducted in Opolskie province. The research sample amounted to 100 respondents, then 400 respondents, respectively. The theoretical construct of Kazimierz Obuchowski describing the objective and subjective stand…