Detection of response shift in health-related quality of life studies: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Response Shift (RS) refers to the idea that an individual may undergo changes in its health-related quality of life (HRQOL). If internal standard, values, or reconceptualization of HRQOL change over time, then answer to the same items by the same individuals may not be comparable over time. Traditional measures to evaluate RS is prone to bias and strong methodologies to study the existence of this phenomenon is required. The objective is to systematically identify, analyze, and synthesize the existing and recent evidence of statistical methods used for RS detection in HRQOL studies. METHODS: The analysis of selected studies between January 2010 and July 2020 was performed through a systematic review in MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Google Scholar databases. The search strategy used the terms "Health-Related Quality of Life" and "Response Shift" using the filters "Humans", "Journal Article", "English" and "2010/01/01-2020/07/31". The search was made in August 2020. RESULTS: After considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, from the total selected articles (675), 107 (15.9%) of the publications were included in the analysis. From these, 79 (71.0%) detected the existence of RS and 86 (80.4%) only used one detection method. The most used methods were Then Test (n = 41) and Oort's Structural Equation Models (SEM) (n = 35). Other method used were Multiple Lineal Regression (n = 7), Mixed-Effect Regression (n = 6), Latent Trajectory Analysis (n = 6), Item Response Theory (n = 6), Logistics Regression (n = 5), Regression and Classification Trees (n = 4) and Relative Importance Method (n = 4). Most of these detected recalibration, including Then Test (n = 27), followed by Oort's SEM that detected the higher combination of RS types: recalibration (n = 24), reprioritization (n = 13) and reconceptualization (n = 7). CONCLUSIONS: There is a continuous interest of studying RS detection. Oort's SEM becomes the most versatile method in its capability for detecting RS in all different types. Despite results from previous systematic reviews, same methods have been used during the last years. We observed the need to explore other alternative methods allowing same detection capacity with robust and highly precise methodology. The investigation on RS detection and types requires more study, therefore new opportunity grows to continue attending this phenomenon through a multidisciplinary perspective.

Toddler Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy.

Great efforts focus on early detection of autism spectrum disorder, although some scientists and policy-makers have questioned early universal screening. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the different screening tools. Several electronic databases were used to identify published studies. A Bayesian model was used to estimate the screening accuracy. The pooled sensitivity was 0.72 (95% CI 0.61-0.81), and the specificity was 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.99). Subgroup analyses to remove heterogeneity indicated sensitivity was 0.77 (95% CI 0.69-0.84), and specificity was 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-0.99; SD ≤ 0.01). Level 1 screening tools for ASD showed consistent statistically significant results and therefore are adequate to detect autism at 14-36 months.

Association between Occupational Exposure to Wood Dust and Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review to analyze the association between occupational exposure to wood dust and cancer. METHODS: A systematic literature search of entries made in the MEDLINE-PubMed database between 1957 and 2013 was conducted to identify studies that had assessed the relationship between occupational exposure to wood dust and different types of cancer. A meta-analysis of selected case-control and cohort studies was subsequently performed. RESULTS: A total of 114 studies were identified and 70 were selected for review. Of these, 42 studies focused on the relationship between wood dust and nasal cancer (n = 22), lung cancer (n = 11), and other types of cancer (n = 9). Low-to-moderate quality evidence that wood dust acts as a carcinogen was obtained, and a stronger association between wood dust and nasal adenocarcinoma was observed. A lesser association between wood dust exposure and lung cancer was also observed. Several studies suggested that there is a relationship between wood dust and the onset of other cancers, although there was no evidence to establish an association. A meta-analysis that included four case-controls studies showed that workers exposed to wood dust exhibited higher rates of nasal adenocarcinoma than other workers (odds ratio = 10.28; 95% confidence interval: 5.92 and 17.85; P<0,0001), although a large degree of heterogeneity was found. CONCLUSIONS: Low-to-moderate quality evidence supports a causal association between cancer and occupational exposure to wood dust, and this association was stronger for nasal adenocarcinoma than for lung cancer. There was no evidence of an association between wood dust exposure and the other cancers examined.

[Quality of life and its determinants in Spanish university students of health sciences factors]. / Calidad de vida y sus factores determinantes en universitarios españoles de ciencias de la salud.

INTRODUCTION: The quality of life of university students acquires special importance because it provides information about their life conditions and especially how they perceive it. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the quality of life of students who are enrolled in health science studies and its relation with the following diverse factors: life and dietetic habits, anthropometric parameters and the influence of distinct variables on their perception. METHODS: Transversal study of a sample of 1753 health science degree students of nine Spanish universities with a randomized design and stratified by course and faculty for which we applied an ad hoc questionnaire that considered all study variables. RESULTS: The quality of life (QoL) perceived by the participants had a Median of 75. The factors that were explored about the quality of life correlated significantly with their global perception of it (p.

Introducción: La calidad de vida en la población universitaria adquiere una especial importancia ya que permite obtener información sobre las condiciones de vida de los universitarios y, sobre todo, de cómo éstos las perciben. Objetivo: Evaluar la calidad de vida de los universitarios que cursan estudios en ciencias de la salud y su relación con diferentes factores tales como: hábitos de vida, parámetros antropométricos y la influencia de las distintas variables sobre su percepción. Material y Método: Estudio transversal de una muestra de 1.753 estudiantes de ciencias de la salud de nueve universidades españolas con diseño muestral aleatorio y estatrificado según curso y facultad al que se le aplicó un cuestionaro ad hoc que recogía todas las variables a estudio. Resultados: La calidad de vida percibida por los participantes fue Me = 75. Los factores explorados de la calidad de vida se co-relacionaron significativamente con la percepción global de calidad de vida de los estudiantes (p.

Acceso Abierto: nuevos modelos de edición científica en entornos web 2.0 / Open Access: new models of scientific publishing in web 2.0 environments

En los últimos años hemos asistido al desarrollo y penetración de las tecnologías participativas, o tecnologías 2.0, en todos los ámbitos de la sociedad y del conocimiento. La forma colaborativa y abierta de generar, organizar y gestionar el conocimiento es entendida, cada vez más, como una actividad esencial para fomentar la innovación, el crecimiento económico y el desarrollo social. Por otro lado, el acceso abierto como vía para garantizar el libre acceso a la información y favorecer la visibilidad, uso e impacto de la investigación ya es una realidad consolidada. El presente trabajo examina el grado de implementación de las tecnologías web 2.0 en el ámbito de las revistas científicas médicas de acceso abierto. Se ha utilizado para el estudio una combinación de métodos estadísticos multivariantes para identificar y determinar la capacidad innovadora de las revistas o plataformas de revistas científicas analizadas.

In recent years we have witnessed the development and incorporation of participatory technologies, or 2.0 technologies, in all areas of knowledge and society. Establishing open and collaborative ways to create, organize and manage knowledge is understood, increasingly, as an activity essential to encouraging innovation, economic growth and social development. In addition, open access has become a concrete option to ensure free access to information and to improve the visibility, use and impact of research.This paper examines the degree of implementation of web 2.0 technologies within open access medical journals. A combination of multivariate statistical methods was used to identify and assess the innovative capacity of the journals and the journal platforms analyzed.