Biomedical subjects

Christian von Ferber

Publications and source records attributed to Christian von Ferber.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

[To what extent are recommendations of guidelines relevant in everyday practice? An essential question for evaluation studies].

PURPOSE: To what extent are recommendations of guidelines relevant in everyday practice? METHODS: 142 general practitioners (GPs) participating in ten different quality circles administered by the statutory medical association of Hesse were interviewed by questionnaire, which of 135 recommendations selected from eight guidelines they had used during the last 6 weeks. The guidelines proposed recommendations for eight frequent indications in primary care. The findings were presented to 15 authors of the guidelines. The authors were asked to assess each recommendation as essential, important or nonessential to therapy. RESULTS: By setting a benchmark of 75% for adherence to each recommendation, 50% of all recommendations had been used by the GPs. With very few exceptions the authors of the guidelines assessed these recommendations as essential or important to therapy. On the other hand, many recommendations that missed the benchmark were assessed as nonessential by the authors. CONCLUSION: Recommendations of guidelines should be systematically assessed by users and authors together to find out which of them are really of clinical relevance.

Benchmarking↗

PubMed2005

[Do different survey settings influence the prevalence of symptoms? A methodological comparison using the Youth Self-Report].

OBJECTIVES: The self-reported emotional and behavioural disorders among adolescents were assessed by the Youth Self-Report (YSR). The YSR was administered either in households or in classrooms. The goal of the study was to prove whether these different settings affect the prevalence rates of symptoms reported in the YSR. METHODS: Mean scores and standard deviations of problem scales of two classroom samples and one household sample that was generally used as a reference were compared. The data were also compared with two classroom samples from Sweden and Greece. Statistical analyses were performed by means of t-test (unpaired), the evaluation of the magnitude of the effects by means of Cohen's criteria. RESULTS: Classroom samples detected a significantly higher prevalence of symptoms than did household samples. This is the case for almost all of the problem scales in the YSR. The result of our study supports the finding that the setting of surveys that use self-administered questionnaires in classrooms themselves affect the prevalence of self-reported symptoms assessed by the YSR. CONCLUSIONS: The results of surveys may be influenced, to a much greater degree than previously thought, by the settings in which they are administered. Further research is needed to identify the specific influences that differ for surveys administered at home, respectively at school.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

ISO learning approximates a solution to the inverse-controller problem in an unsupervised behavioral paradigm.

In "Isotropic Sequence Order Learning" (pp. 831-864 in this issue), we introduced a novel algorithm for temporal sequence learning (ISO learning). Here, we embed this algorithm into a formal nonevaluating (teacher free) environment, which establishes a sensor-motor feedback. The system is initially guided by a fixed reflex reaction, which has the objective disadvantage that it can react only after a disturbance has occurred. ISO learning eliminates this disadvantage by replacing the reflex-loop reactions with earlier anticipatory actions. In this article, we analytically demonstrate that this process can be understood in terms of control theory, showing that the system learns the inverse controller of its own reflex. Thereby, this system is able to learn a simple form of feedforward motor control.

Algorithms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Patterns of behaviour of juvenile smokers and non-smokers].

Preventing habitual smoking by young people forms an important goal of health promotion in schools. In achieving this target, information is needed about the age at which smoking becomes a temptation for young people as well as knowledge about the attitudes that are associated with smoking. At two elementary schools and at one grammar school in a community of a former coalmining area, 985 German pupils aged 11-18 years were interviewed with the Youth Self Report (YSR) together with a questionnaire concerning their smoking habits. The rate of smoking among the pupils rose from the age group 11-15 years to the age group 16-18 years (in this age access to cigarettes is no longer restricted by law) from 12% to 63%; between the sexes there is no difference in smoking habits. According to the scales of the YSR in both types of school, smokers scored significantly higher on scales of "antisocial" and ,,aggressive behaviour". On the other hand non-smokers scored significantly higher on the scale "social problems". The significantly higher rate of smokers in both elementary schools compared with the corresponding rate in the grammar school will be interpreted by two interrelated explanations: the influence of lower social class as well as the lack of the deferred gratification pattern as an ingredient of the culture in elementary schools. The difference between smoking and non-smoking juveniles according to the scales of the YSR can be explained by the association of smoking behaviour with the juvenile culture of deviant groups on the one hand and by the attitudes of the non-smokers, who are more reluctant in joining peer groups. The results support a strategy for effectively preventing habitual smoking habits of juveniles in schools by combining youth activities inside and outside the schools.

Adolescent↗