Exposure of Seventh and Eighth Grade Urban Youth to Dentistry and Oral Health Careers.

While pipeline programs for students from underrepresented minority groups have been established at the high school and college levels, fewer programs have been developed for middle school students. In an effort to reach this cohort, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry embarked on a grassroots collaborative pipeline program with two distinct segments: Urban Impressions and Dental Imprint. Their purpose is to expose Detroit-area seventh and eighth grade students to careers in dentistry, provide oral health education, and introduce role models. The aim of this pilot study was to determine outcomes for the middle school participants in Urban Impressions (n=86) and Dental Imprint (n=68). Both segments featured hands-on dental activities at the dental school. Outcomes were assessed by pretest-posttest surveys. Across the three cohorts, a total of 86 students participated in one or more sessions, with 57 completing the pre- and post-program surveys, for a 66% response rate. The results showed that the Dental Imprint respondents' knowledge of oral health, dental admissions, and specialties increased by an average 26% over three years. The gain in knowledge for each cohort was statistically significant (p<0.001). Overall, 91% of Urban Impressions and 95% of Dental Imprint respondents were positive about the value of the program. Thirty-one of 57 Urban Impressions respondents indicated interest in dentistry as a career following the program. These results suggest that the two segments of this program are meeting their goals of increasing middle grade students' awareness of oral health professions including dentistry and providing access to role models. Institutions may benefit from the description of strategies used by this program to address challenges related to establishing early pipeline programs.

Initial Development and Validation of a Patient-Reported Symptom Survey for Small-Fiber Polyneuropathy.

Small-fiber polyneuropathy (SFPN) affects unmyelinated and thinly myelinated peripheral axons. Several questionnaires have been developed to assess polyneuropathy from diabetes or chemotherapy, but none for SFPN from other or unknown causes. A comprehensive survey could help clinicians diagnose and assess treatment responses, define prevalence natural history and cures, and identify research subjects. Thus, we developed the 1-page Small-Fiber Symptom Survey, using input from patients and 21 medical/scientific experts. Participants comprised consenting consecutive patients evaluated for SFPN at the Massachusetts General Hospital plus normal control subjects. Participants SFPN status was stratified on the basis of the results of their objective diagnostic tests (distal leg skin biopsy and autonomic function testing). We measured internal consistency, test retest reliability, convergent validity, and performed a receiver operating curve analysis. The 179 participants averaged 46.6 ± 15.6 years old; they were 73.2% female and 92.2% Caucasian. Eighty-five had confirmed SFPN, mostly idiopathic. Principal component analysis revealed 5 symptom clusters. The questionnaire had good internal consistency (Cronbach α = .893), excellent test retest reliability (r = .927, P < .001) and good to fair convergent validity. Participants with confirmed SFPN had more severe symptoms than others (P = .009). The Small-Fiber Symptom Survey has satisfactory psychometric properties, indicating potential future utility for surveying patient-reported symptoms of SFPN regardless of its cause. PERSPECTIVE: This article reports the initial development and early psychometric validation of a new patient-reported outcome measure intended to capture the wide range of multisystem symptoms of SFPN. When further developed, it could potentially help clinicians diagnose and monitor patients, and help advance research.

Experimental comparison of parametric versus nonparametric analyses of data from the cold pressor test.

UNLABELLED: Parametric statistical methods are common in human pain research. They require normally distributed data, but this assumption is rarely tested. The current study analyzes the appropriateness of parametric testing for outcomes from the cold pressor test (CPT), a common human experimental pain test. We systematically reviewed published CPT studies to quantify how often researchers test for normality and how often they use parametric versus nonparametric tests. We then measured the normality of CPT data from 7 independent small to medium cohorts and 1 study of >10,000 subjects. We then examined the ability of 2 common mathematical transformations to normalize our skewed data sets. Lastly, we performed Monte Carlo simulations on a representative data set to compare the statistical power of the parametric t-test versus the nonparametric Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test. We found that only 39% of published CPT studies (47/122) mentioned checking data distribution, yet 72% (88/122) used parametric statistics. Furthermore, among our 8 data sets, CPT outcomes were virtually always nonnormally distributed, and mathematical transformations were largely ineffective in normalizing them. The simulations demonstrated that the nonparametric Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test had greater statistical power than the parametric t-test for all scenarios tested: For small effect sizes, the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test had up to 300% more power. PERSPECTIVE: These results demonstrate that parametric analyses of CPT data are routine but incorrect and that they likely increase the chances of failing to detect significant between-group differences. They suggest that nonparametric analyses become standard for CPT studies and that assumptions of normality be routinely tested for other types of pain outcomes as well.

Self-control in postsecondary settings: students' perceptions of ADHD college coaching.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify undergraduates' perceptions of the impact of ADHD coaching on their academic success and broader life functioning. METHOD: One-on-one interviews were conducted with 19 students on 10 different U.S. campuses who comprised a purposive sample of gender, cumulative grade point average, and self-regulation skills variables as measured by the learning and study strategies inventory. Interview transcripts were coded using NVivo 8 software, and emergent themes were triangulated with students' descriptions of personal artifacts that symbolized coaching's influence on their lives. RESULTS: Students reported that ADHD coaching helped them become more self-regulated, which led to positive academic experiences and outcomes. Students described ADHD coaching as a unique service that helped them develop more productive beliefs, experience more positive feelings, and engage in more self-regulated behaviors. CONCLUSION: ADHD coaching helped participants enhance their self-control as they responded to the multifaceted demands of undergraduate life.

Measurement practices: methods for developing content-valid student examinations.

Measurement experts generally agree that a systematic approach to test construction will probably result in an instrument with sound psychometric properties. One fundamental method is called the blueprint approach to test construction. A test blueprint is a tool used in the process for generating content-valid exams by linking the subject matter delivered during instruction and the items appearing on the test. Unfortunately, this procedure as well as other educational measurement practices is often overlooked A survey of curriculum administrators at 144 United States and international medical schools was conducted to assess the importance and prevalence of test blueprinting in their school. Although most found test blueprinting to be very important, few require the practice. The purpose of this paper is to review the fundamental principals associated with achieving a high level of content validity when developing tests for students. The short-term efforts necessary to develop and integrate measurement theory into practice will lead to long-term gains for students, faculty and academic institutions.