Outcome Dimensions Research Articles

Clinical outcomes of a novel porcine small intestinal submucosa patch for full-thickness hand skin defects: a retrospective investigation

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical outcomes of a novel soft tissue repair patch (porcine small intestinal submucosa patch, SIS patch) in the treatment of full-thickness hand skin defects.MethodsFrom January 2017 to July 2019, 80 patients with hand soft tissue defects, who met the inclusion criteria, were retrospectively reviewed and divided into two groups. After debridement, patients in group A were treated with the novel SIS patch to cover the wound, and patients in group B were treated with autologous skin graft. The dimensions of skin defect area and healing outcome were evaluated and recorded. Scar assessment was carried out using Scar Cosmesis Assessment and Rating Scale (SCAR scale) at the last follow-up postoperation, and the recovery of wound sensation was assessed at the same time using British Medical Research Council (BMRC) grading of sensorimotor recovery. All the data were collected and statistically analyzed.ResultsA total of 80 patients were enrolled in the study with 40 patients in each group. Four patients in group A and 5 patients in group B were excluded due to wound infection and lost to follow-up. There were 36 patients in group A and 35 patients in group B finally got follow-up postoperation with mean interval of 12.75 ± 5.61 months in group A and 14.11 ± 5.42 months in group B. The dimensions of skin defect area in group A ranged from 7.5 to 87.5 cm2 (mean 25.97 ± 18.66 cm2) and in group B ranged from 7.5 to 86.25 cm2 (mean 33.61 ± 19.27 cm2) which have no significant difference (P > 0.05). SCAR scale results of group A and group B were 10.98 ± 0.33 and 9.49 ± 0.35, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). BMRC grading results showed 6 cases of S4, 11 cases of S3+, 5 cases of S3, 6 cases of S2, 6 cases of S1 and 2 cases of S0 in group A, and 8 cases of S4, 10 cases of S3+, 7 cases of S3, 4 cases of S2, 5 cases of S1, and 1 case of S0 in group B, which had no significant difference between them (P > 0.05).ConclusionsThe novel SIS patch is an applicable biological material in the treatment of hand skin defect, which could achieve a better cosmetic appearance of the newborn skin tissue.

Heterogeneous impact of internet availability on female labor market outcomes in an emerging economy: Evidence from Indonesia

Greater female labor market participation benefits not only women's empowerment and the well-being of their families, but also the economy as a whole. Yet the labor force participation of women in developing countries is relatively stagnant, even with higher levels of economic development and better educational attainment. Women are also more likely to work in the informal sector and unskilled jobs. The arrival of the internet and the subsequent creation of internet-based jobs may positively affect women's labor market outcomes. In this paper, we examine the effect of internet availability on five dimensions of women's labor market outcomes in Indonesia, focusing on the heterogeneity in the impact of internet availability on female labor market outcomes. We construct a balanced pseudo panel covering all districts in the country for 2008 – 2018. We find that internet availability has a small positive effect on the labor force participation and full-time employment of younger or low-educated women. We find a small negative effect on the likelihood of holding skilled jobs for these groups of women. We also find a small negative effect on job formality. These effects are concentrated among low-educated women. The findings are mainly explained by the kind of internet-based jobs that were created in the country. On balance, we do not find evidence that the internet significantly improves women's labor market outcomes.

Fusion-Based Econometric Analysis: Assessing Investment Project Efficacy and Business Decision Making

In this fusion-driven study, a comprehensive examination of investment projects' effectiveness in the unique economic context of Uzbekistan unfolds, employing econometric analysis to unveil the consequential relationship between economic indicators and business performance. The research employs a confluence of descriptive statistics, panel data regression models, and time-series analysis to unravel the intricate correlation matrix that binds various dimensions of investment outcomes within the country's distinct economic climate. Emphasizing the singular nature of the Uzbek economic environment, the study aims to provide a granular understanding of investment efficacy, offering strategic insights to guide economic policymakers and entrepreneurs in making informed decisions. Notably, Uzbekistan witnessed $2.5 billion in foreign direct investment inflows in 2022, making the knowledge gained from this detailed investigation particularly valuable. Set against the backdrop of a complex macro and micro-economic landscape, characterized by abundant natural resources, and pressing developmental challenges, the dynamic interplay between investment efficacy and diverse influencing factors comes to the fore. As a result, the study envisions its insights contributing to the formulation of strategies that harness Uzbekistan's investment climate potential, ultimately driving economic development and fostering business growth.

Understanding the relationship between enterprise social media user adaptation, post-adoption use and employee performance

ABSTRACT Existing research suggests that the benefits of information technology (IT) are determined by post-adoption usage behaviours that embed IT deeply and comprehensively into their working systems. However, the enterprise social media (ESM) literature has lagged in exploring the post-adoption use behaviour. This study draws on the coping theory to explore how various adaptation behaviours of information system users influence ESM post-adoption use (routinisation and infusion), and the effects of different post-adoption use behaviours on two dimensions of individual-level outcomes: routine performance and innovation performance. Using structural equation modelling on 295 sample data, the results show that: (1) User adaptation is the antecedent that shapes the post-adoption ESM use, and different user adaptation behaviours have different effects on routinisation and infusion. (2) ESM use contributes to employee performance, and the routinisation of using ESM, moreover, has a greater impact on routine performance, while infusion has a greater impact on innovation performance. (3) ESM self-efficacy negatively moderates the relationship between user adaptation and routinisation. Our findings provide instrumental insights into how employees can develop appropriate ESM usage behaviour to support their job performance.

Formula feeding: Evidence for health, nutrition and early childhood development during the critical first 1000 days from rural China

Infant and young child feeding is crucial to physical and mental development and long-term health. In developing settings, the widespread use of formula raises concerns regarding the growth and development of infants. However, little is known about the role that formula may play in the observed poor infant health, nutrition and development in developing areas. Using a rich panel dataset of 1802 infants aged 6–30 months collected at six months intervals from rural China, we describe the prevalence of formula feeding, identify households that are more likely to use formula, and examine the associations between formula feeding with various dimensions of infant health, nutrition and development outcomes: anthropometric measurements, infant illnesses, cognitive, psychomotor, and socio-emotional development. We found infant formula is widely used in rural China, and it is significantly associated with infant health and nutritional outcomes - formula feeding is associated with a 4.59-point increase in Hemoglobin concentration and a 13% reduction in anemia prevalence, but is also associated with a 0.11-sd decrease in weight-for-age and height-for-age Z-scores. Moreover, infants are more likely to be fed formula when their families have higher socioeconomic status, when their parents have out-migrated, and when they have no siblings. Our findings suggest that there is a need to promote age-appropriate feeding practices, with an emphasis on families who are particularly in need of guidance, to reduce over-reliance on formula, and provide support for mothers to delay their migration or create pathways for rural parents to bring their children with them when they migrate.

Evaluation and regional differences analysis of the marine industry development level: The Case of China

The evaluation and regional differences analysis of marine industry development level play a significant role in the marine industry development of coastal regions. Taking China as an example, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation system with three dimensions of innovation, industrial structure, and outcomes according to the connotation of marine industry development. The entropy-based TOPSIS method is applied to calculate the marine industry development level in 11 coastal provinces of China from 2007 to 2019, and the Dagum Gini coefficient is used to analyze regional differences. It is found that: (1) The weight ranking of the evaluation system is innovation, outcomes, and industrial structure in order, indicating that innovation can best reflect the marine industry development level. (2) The Chinese marine industry development level shows a positive trend, and the progress is especially evident after the strategy of building a strong maritime country is proposed. (3) The intra-regional and inter-regional differences are narrowing, indicating that the coordination of regional development is enhanced. (4) The primary source of regional differences is the intensity of transvariation, so the government should pay attention to the coordinated development of marine industry among provinces, especially the backward provinces in the economic circle with high development level. The findings of this paper provide a useful reference for promoting China’s marine industry development.

Postgraduate Students' Utilization of Web-based Library and Information Services during Covid-19 Pandemic

This study examined the status and factors of postgraduate students' utilization of Web-based library and information services on output and outcome dimensions. During COVID-19, an online survey was conducted using stratified sampling, collecting 527 respondents from 20 Malaysian public universities. Library technology, support, and environment were the factors affecting WBLIS utilization. Each factor scored highly on usefulness, research support, and virtual space dimensions. Electronic databases were utilized heavily, and digital reference services were used the least. Most respondents' results, research skills and strategies improved with WBLIS utilization. Overall, the paper presents the descriptive findings to benefit academic libraries and universities. Keywords: Academic library; Web-based library and information service; Utilization; Covid-19 eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by E-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behavior Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioral Researchers on Asians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behavior Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

The effects of mobile technology usage on cognitive, affective, and behavioural learning outcomes in primary and secondary education: A systematic review with meta‐analysis

AbstractBackgroundThe impact of mobile technology usage on student learning in various educational stages has been the subject of ongoing empirical and review research. The most recent meta‐analyses on various types of mobile technology use for potential benefits of learning covered the empirical studies up to about nine years ago. Since then, the use of mobile technology in primary and secondary education has increased tremendously, and numerous empirical studies have been conducted on this topic, but their conclusions were inconsistent.ObjectivesThe purpose of this systematic review is to re‐examine this issue by meta‐analyzing the empirical research studies from the last nine years, with a focus on cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning outcomes in primary and secondary education, and to examine the potential moderators that may have contributed to the heterogeneity across findings.MethodsBased on our inclusion and exclusion criteria, we found 85 studies of 78 peer‐reviewed papers (N = 9157) from electronic databases and major journals in educational technology and mobile learning between 2014 and 2022. We then examined 15 moderators that were expected to affect student learning outcomes.Results and ConclusionsCompared with traditional technology and non‐technology groups, using mobile technology produced medium positive and statistically significant effects on primary and secondary students' learning, in terms of cognitive (g = 0.498, 95% CI [0.382, 0.614]), affective (g = 0.449, 95% CI [0.301, 0.598]) and behavioural (g = 0.339, 95% CI [0.051, 0.627]) learning outcomes. Further moderator analyses revealed that student factors (i.e., community type, students’ socioeconomic status), learning process (i.e., hardware used, student‐to‐hardware ratio, teaching method) and study quality (i.e., learning topic/content equivalence, degree of technology use in the control group) were among the variables that moderated the summary effect sizes for at least one learning outcome dimension significantly. The findings and their implications for researchers, policymakers and practitioners are discussed.

Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids: What the Practicing Audiologist Needs to Know

Purpose: The purpose of this clinical focus article is to provide an overview of the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid rule, and discuss opportunities for clinicians to support individuals who self-direct their hearing care. Conclusions: The introduction of OTC hearing aids has implications for potentially all U.S. audiologists, even those who do not plan to directly interact with the devices. This clinical focus article provides audiologists with an overview of the historical background on OTC hearing aids and summarizes the FDA's rule. It also introduces recent studies that explore dimensions of patient outcomes with self-fitting hearing aids, including satisfaction with service delivery. In addition, readers are provided with clinical applications, or ways in which they can support patients who pursue OTC hearing aids, including by providing support services that help patients navigate the emotional and psychosocial aspects of hearing loss.

Neurocognitive correlates of the varied domains of outcomes at 20 year follow-up of first-episode psychosis

Little is known about long-term outcomes of the first episode of psychosis (FEP) other than in the symptomatic domain. We hypothesised that cognitive impairment is associated with poorer multi-domain outcomes at a long-term follow-up of FEP patients. We followed-up 172 FEP patients for a mean of 20.3 years. Ten outcome dimensions were assessed (symptomatic, functional and personal recovery, social disadvantage, physical health, suicide attempts, number of episodes, current drug use, chlorpromazine equivalent doses (CPZ), and schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder final diagnosis). Cognition was assessed at follow-up. Processing speed and verbal memory deficits showed significant associations with poor outcomes on symptomatic, social functioning, social disadvantage, higher number of episodes, and higher CPZ. Significant associations were found between visual memory impairments were significantly associated with low symptomatic and functional recovery, between attentional deficits and a final diagnosis of schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, and between social cognition deficits and poor personal recovery.Lower cognitive global scores were significantly associated with all outcome dimensions except for drug abuse and physical status. Using multiple outcome dimensions allowed for the inclusion of the patients’ perspective and other commonly neglected outcome measures. Taken together, cognitive impairment in FEP patients is strongly related to poor performance on several outcome dimensions beyond symptomatic remission.

O062 / #625 CAPTURING THE CHRONIC PAIN PATIENT EXPERIENCE USING A NOVEL DIGITAL HEALTH ECOSYSTEM: TRACK 3: VAGUS NERVE STIMULATION / TOOLS TO INFORM PATIENT CARE

Chronic pain affects many more outcome dimensions than just pain intensity. Conventionally, these effects are assessed in-clinic and occasionally using diaries at home. Digital clinical research tools can optimize research by allowing for the collection of more and diverse data (subjective and objective), allowing for data collection at home and during times that matter, and by improving patient, researcher and clinician engagement in the research process. This analysis reviews performance of a digital ecosystem that captures the multi-year multifactorial chronic pain patient experience at home.

Health Literacy and Its Predictors Among Pregnant Women: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Due to the great importance of health literacy during pregnancy and its direct impact on the health of the mother and her child, this study aimed to evaluate the health literacy of pregnant women in a semi-urban area, Kuhdasht county, located in western Iran and to investigate its associated factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 300 pregnant mothers referred to a governmental prenatal care center in Kuhdasht county, Iran, in 2019. Data collection tools included a demographic form and the Persian version of the Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcome Questionnaire (MHLAPQ). Collected data were then analyzed through SPSS software version 22 using the Pearson correlation test and Multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The mean score for the maternal health literacy dimension was 58.38±8.87 (out of 70), and it was 47.20±6.22 (out of 60) for the pregnancy outcome dimension. This indicates that the current pregnant women had adequate health literacy and pregnancy outcome. Further, there was a significant relationship between maternal health literacy and pregnancy outcome (r=0.58, P=0.001). Moreover, multiple linear regression results indicated that age, occupation, education, ferrous sulfate uptake, history of abortion, frequency of pregnancy, the trimester for prenatal care initiation, and birth weight of infants could not significantly predict health literacy in women (P&gt;0.05). Conclusion: The health literacy level of pregnant women in Kuhdasht county, Iran, is adequate but not high. Accordingly, it is necessary to further consider maternal health literacy in socio-economic and health planning due to its effect on the health of the child and mother.

A mixed-methods study of quality differences between applied documentation approaches in nursing homes

BackgroundSeveral approaches to nursing documentation exist. Some address standardised terminology and daily monitoring, whereas the structural model approach focuses on open-ended text information and special incidents. This study aims to identify quality differences between available documentation approaches from the perspectives of nursing professionals in Germany.MethodsBetween October 2018 and May 2019, a convenience sample of German nursing home practitioners was surveyed concerning the quality of their documentation techniques. The quality measurement was developed from the findings of a literature review on indicators that define successful nursing documentation. Selected indicators were structured according to Donabedian’s quality dimensions of structure, process, and outcome. A mean score was calculated for each quality dimension. Non-parametric tests were employed to discover whether organisational and person-related conditions affect score values. The framework method was used to analyse textual data.ResultsResponses from 250 nursing care practitioners show significant differences between users of different documentation approaches in the outcome dimension. Nurses who worked with the structural model were slightly more satisfied with their documentation approach than users of other approaches. In addition, differences between subgroups were identified depending on the mode of the tools employed for nursing documentation, participation in training, and length of time spent using the present documentation tool. Qualitative data reveal that digitalisation, unequal task distribution, and appreciation and motivation are critical topics in nursing homes.ConclusionsThe results indicate that regular opportunities to reflect on challenges in documentation activities might increase nurses’ perceptions of documentation as a valuable part of nursing care. Training might serve this purpose for users of non-structural model approaches. Regardless of the specific recording techniques employed, more investment in digital infrastructure is required.

County-Level Segregation and Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Outcomes.

Segregation has been linked to unequal life chances. Individuals from marginalized communities experience more crime, higher levels of poverty, poorer health, and less civic engagement. In addition, segregated metropolitan regions have been found to display inequality in access to basic services. This article builds on these findings by linking segregation to infection and deaths from COVID-19. Using census data matched to COVID infection and death statistics at the county level, this article offers a theoretical basis for the researchers' choice of segregation measures and predictions for different racial groups. It analyzes the relationship between two dimensions of segregation-racial isolation and racial unevenness-and COVID outcomes for different racial and ethnic groups. In counties where Black and Latino residents lived in more racially isolated neighborhoods, they were much more likely to contract COVID-19. This pattern was exacerbated in counties with a high proportion of frontline workers. In addition, racial segregation increased COVID-19 death rates for Black, Latino, and white residents. These findings suggest that devastating outcomes of the coronavirus pandemic were linked to a long history of racial marginalization and entrenched discrimination produced by structural inequalities embedded in our geographies. This knowledge should be used to inform public health planning.

A Dual-Process Account of Major Social Constructs of Motivation: Implications for Leadership Scholarship

There is inconsistency in positioning general motivation constructs within the broader leadership research. The main purpose of the current study was to review major social constructs of motivation applied in leadership studies and then empirically investigate their associations. Data was collected using self-reported measures from 316 business students to test our theoretical models. Properties of the models, including validity and common method bias, were assessed and controlled before hypothesis testing using variance-based structural equation modeling. This study offers several original contributions. First, reviewing the literature, we identify major social constructs of motivation central to leadership studies including self-efficacy, self-regulation, causal attributions, goal orientation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Second, applying the regulatory focus perspective, we offer a new taxonomy of the constructs (promotional vs. preventive). Third, using empirical data, we establish a nomological network amongst the six social constructs of motivation. The study yielded an integrative theory of motivation by establishing a network of cause-and-effect amongst six popular social constructs of motivation in leadership research. Two complementary (promotional vs. preventive) models of motivation were developed to predict dimensions of creative outcome (idea generation and exploration). Forth, building on the findings, we provide early evidence for further decomposition of general self-efficacy constructs into “promotional self-efficacy” vs. “preventive self-efficacy”. Implications of the findings for leadership research were also discussed.

A Comparative Case Study to Experiences of High School Students Using Text-Based versus Hybrid-Based Environments in Programming Education

This study aimed to comparatively determine the experiences of high school students in programming language education via text-based or hybrid-based programming environments. A comparative case study was conducted in this study. The participants consisted of a total of 19 high school students with no previous experience in any programming language, nine of them in the text-based programming group and ten of them in the hybrid-based programming group. The qualitative data were obtainedwith a semi-structured interview at the end of the 10-week programming education process and analyzed by content analysis. The findings were presented in dimensions of difficulties and conveniences in a programming language course, anxiety about the programming process, course outcomes, and their preferences for future programming courses. In each dimension, even if common codes were obtained for both groups in some themes, the effects of these codes on students differed in each group. According to the findings, in the programming process, students faced some difficulties and conveniences in terms of mental effort. While “trying to figure out where they made a mistake” created a difficulty, “using comprehensible visual elements in the hybrid-based environment” as a convenience had the highest frequency among the codes. Some situations caused learning anxiety instudents such as worry about failing, while others did not. The students achieved positive and negative course outcomes. “Understanding the logic of coding and acquiring programming skills” which was one of the positive outcomes had the highest frequency. In addition, students' preferences regarding whether or not to attend the future programming courses changed for various reasons. “Unwilling to programming language education” was one of these findings. Considering the scarcity of programming education studies via text-based and hybrid-based programming environments, the results and implications of this study are to strengthen future research by providing rich data.

A framing effect of intertemporal and spatial choice.

A given spatial distance can be measured using either a length or a time unit. A spatial-choice problem with given distances represented in a space frame and in a time frame is logically equivalent. Different representations of the same choice problem should yield the same preferences according to the invariance principle. To test invariance in the context of spatial choice, we used a constant velocity to construct six spatial (intertemporal) choice problems with single-placed (single-dated) outcomes in a space (time) frame and investigated whether invariance-violating behaviour could be detected under the two frames (Studies 1-3). If such behaviour existed, we then aimed to determine whether two models-the attribute-comparison model, which predicts a framing effect occurs if framing shifts people's judgement of the inequality relationship between the differences of two options in time/space dimension and that in outcome dimension, and the utility comparison model, which predicts that a framing effect occurs if framing shifts people's judgement of the inequality relationship between two options' overall utility-could account for it, and which of these two models is better supported by the data (Studies 2-3). The results indicate that a time-space framing effect existed, as people's preference orders were significantly changed by the different descriptions of spatial-choice problems, and this new time-space framing effect could be satisfactorily explained by the attribute-comparison rather than the utility comparison model. Our findings could support the creation of new forms of choice architecture that improve decisions about health, wealth, and happiness.

People Aspects of Entrepreneurship: A Meta-Analytic Review and Roadmap for Future Research

Despite the proliferation of research on entrepreneurship and its success factors across disciplines, our understanding of the impact of people and people management on entrepreneurial performance is rather limited. In this article, I conducted a meta-analysis of the relationship between five people dimensions (HR systems, HR practices, HR investment/function, human capital, and social capital) and four outcome dimensions (HR outcomes, operational outcomes, financial outcomes, and new firm-specific outcomes) of entrepreneurial performance to (a) determine the magnitude of the relationship, (b) test moderators of the relationship, and (c) suggest future research directions. The results from 689 correlations (N = 375,221) show that the relationship between people dimensions and entrepreneurial performance is positive and significant (? = .07). More importantly, the meta-analytic correlation differs significantly across several moderators (e.g., types of people dimensions and outcome dimensions, region, and data structure). Among five people dimensions, HR systems are more strongly related to entrepreneurial performance than other dimensions, especially for proximal outcomes (HR and operational outcomes) than distal outcomes (financial and new firm-specific outcomes). Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

When and How Training Programs Influence Organizational Performance? A Meta-Analytic Investigation

Despite the proliferation of research on the relationship between human resource (HR) systems and organizational performance, our understanding of the impact of training programs on organizational performance is rather limited. In this article, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relationship between training and organizational performance to (a) determine the magnitude of the relationship, (b) test a set of moderators of the relationship, and (c) suggest future research directions. The results from 613 correlations (N = 328,635) show that the relationship between training and organizational performance is positive and significant (rho = .12). More importantly, the effect size differs significantly across several moderators (e.g., training dimensions, inclusion of training, outcome dimensions, outcome measures, causal orders, industry, and region). Also, in a meta-analytic path analysis, we found support for the serial mediation model where the direct effect of training is stronger for more proximal outcomes than for more distal outcomes. Finally, in a post-hoc analysis, we found moderating effects of national culture in the relationship between training and organizational performance. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Dimensions of Sports and Recreational Service Quality Influencing Fitness Centre’s Member Satisfaction

Fitness centres in Malaysia remain intensely competitive despite of the industry’s continuous growth. Many depend on recurring revenue streams to secure their market position. This has made, satisfaction of customers a prime importance to ensure their survival in the industry through the delivery of excellent service quality. Basing on this premise, four dimensions of Scale for Service Quality in Recreational Sport (SSQRS) influencing the satisfaction of fitness centre customers was examined. From a total of 113 questionnaires distributed to customers of a gym, all were returned with valid responses for analysis. Findings from the study affirmed that SSQRS dimensions were significantly related to customer satisfaction. Specifically, the outcome dimension demonstrated the greatest impact on satisfaction among customers of a fitness centre followed by physical environment quality and interaction quality. Thus, suggesting there is a need for fitness centres to continuously improve their physical environment quality and outcome quality through personalize workout routines, optimization of space with value-added service, and offer workout streaming to deliver satisfaction, long term revenue and continuous growth.