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Results for “Empirical Approach”

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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

The relationship between intrauterine growth restriction and preterm delivery: an empirical approach using data from a European case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether being small for gestational age, defined as having a birthweight less than the 10th centile of intrauterine growth references, is a risk factor for preterm delivery for singleton live births. DESIGN: A case-control study. SETTING: Maternity hospitals in 16 European countries. SAMPLE: Four thousand and seven hundred preterm infants between 22 and 36 completed weeks of gestation and 6,460 control infants between 37 and 40 weeks of gestation. METHODS: Newborn babies are identified as being small for gestational age using customized reference standards derived from models of fetal growth. The impact of being small for gestational age on preterm delivery is estimated using logistic regression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Spontaneous or induced preterm delivery. RESULTS: Being small for gestational age is significantly associated with preterm birth, although the magnitude of this association differs greatly by type of delivery and gestational age. Over 40% of induced preterm births for reasons other than the premature rupture of membranes are small for gestational age compared with 10.7% of control infants (OR 6.41). For spontaneous or premature rupture of membranes related preterm births, the association is also significant, but weaker (OR 1.51). The relationship between growth restriction and preterm delivery is strongest for preterm births before 34 weeks of gestation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the phenomenon of abnormal fetal growth in all premature infants and, in particular, infants delivered by medical decision for reasons other than premature rupture of membranes. The observed association between being small for gestational age and preterm delivery among spontaneous preterm births merits further attention because the causal mechanisms are not well understood.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1990

Conceptual and empirical approaches to developing family-based assessment procedures: resolving the case of the Family Environment Scale.

This article focuses on the reliability and validity of the Family Environment Scale (FES). The FES subscales generally show adequate internal consistency reliability and stability over time when applied in samples that are diverse; the items also have good content and face validity. An extensive body of research supports the construct, concurrent, and predictive validity of the FES. More generally, reliability and validity are a joint function of scale items and response formats and of the characteristics and diversity of specific samples. To contribute to further advances in family assessment, researchers need to use both conceptual and psychometric criteria rather than rely too heavily on the pursuit of internal consistency reliability and factor analytic approaches to scale construction and validation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Causal patterns of dental health in populations. An empirical approach.

In the present investigation we aimed to analyse causally the pattern of determinants leading to the maintenance of functional teeth in adults. Clinical and self-reported information was used. The hypothesis was that socio-economic conditions operate through psychosocial circumstances that influence lifestyle, and are thus related to oral hygiene and levels of remaining teeth. Testing of the patterns for adults residing in high- and low-fluoride areas did not reveal any principal differences in dental health, therefore further testing was combined for both fluoride areas. Further analysis also indicated that testing should be performed separately for each gender. Social structure and dental health-related lifestyle were important in an overall pattern of maintaining functional teeth, but general lifestyle and psychosocial conditions were not found to be part of the pattern influencing dental health. Gender-specific patterns were revealed. New hypotheses may be suggested for further research with regard to studying patterns of dental health in Lithuanian adults.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Personality and endogenous/major depression: an empirical approach to typus melancholicus. 2. Validation of typus melancholicus core-properties by personality inventory scales.

The purpose of this study was to objectify some of the personality dimensions of the typus melancholicus (TM) personality formation in endogenous depressives and to compare the consistency of the term used in questionnaires with the original concept as delineated in our preceding paper. The prevalence of TM in endogenous-depressive inpatients was 51% for patients with clearly salient TM features. In addition 25% of the sample showed TM features to a minor extent. These findings are consistent with the literature. MMPI and MPI could not separate TM and non-typus melancholicus (NTM) in univariate analyses. However, the Munich Personality Test (MPT) contributes to validating the TM concept. TM depressives scored significantly higher in MPT subscales rigidity and norm orientation. According to its item structure the MPT rigidity subscore can be considered to conceptually encompass hypernomia, i.e. the patient's incapacity to change the norms that were once adopted. Based on the characteristics of item formulations in the MPT subscore norm orientation it was hypothesized that this subscore corresponds to the concept of heteronomia, i.e. conformism towards externally determined and uncritically followed social norms. Since MPT norm orientation in TM does not covariate with control scales of the other inventories used in this study, it is likely that MPT norm orientation refers to the TM patient's sincere commitment to social norms rather than to a sham reaction in the sense of a lie scale. There was no consistent indication that TM shows lower neuroticism scores than NTM.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Hysterical psychosis: an empirical approach.

Criteria for hysterical psychosis set forth by Hollender and Hirsch were systematically applied to a representative sample of 217 patients hospitalized for the first time in their lives for functional psychiatric illness. Surprisingly, no patients who met all of these criteria were found.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1997

Empirical approaches for the investigation of toxicant-induced loss of tolerance.

It has been hypothesized that sensitivity to low-level chemical exposures develops in two steps: initiation by an acute or chronic chemical exposure, followed by triggering of symptoms by low levels of previously tolerated chemical inhalants, foods, or drugs. The Working Group on Toxicant-induced Loss of Tolerance has formulated a series of research questions to test this hypothesis: Do some individuals experience sensitivity to chemicals at levels of exposure unexplained by classical toxicological thresholds and dose-response relationships, and outside normally expected variation in the population? Do chemically sensitive subjects exhibit masking that may interfere with the reproducibility of their responses to chemical challenges? Does chemical sensitivity develop because of acute, intermittent, or continuous exposure to certain substances? If so, what substances are most likely to initiate this process? An experimental approach for testing directly the relationship between patients' reported symptoms and specific exposures was outlined in response to the first question, which was felt to be a key question. Double-blind, placebo-controlled challenges performed in an environmentally controlled hospital facility (environmental medical unit) coupled with rigorous documentation of both objective and subjective responses are necessary to answer this question and to help elucidate the nature and origins of chemical sensitivity.

Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1998

Antidepressant selection and use and healthcare expenditures. An empirical approach.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether 1-year total healthcare expenditures differed between patients who initiated therapy on a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) after controlling for initial antidepressant selection and antidepressant use pattern. A retrospective claims database covering a privately insured population in the US was used. Patients who initiated therapy in the outpatient setting (primary care or psychiatrist) were considered. Two-stage sample selection models were estimated that included controls for initial antidepressant selection and use pattern. The analyses indicated that: (i) self-selection due to initial antidepressant selection was a statistically significant determinant of expenditures for patients who initiated therapy on a TCA but not an SSRI; (ii) after controlling for initial antidepressant selection, antidepressant use pattern was a statistically significant and positive determinant of expenditures for both TCA and SSRI patients; and (iii) after controlling for initial antidepressant selection and use pattern, 1-year total direct healthcare expenditures were significantly lower for patients who initiated therapy on an SSRI than for patients who initiated therapy on a TCA.

Antidepressive Agents↗