Frequency Of Usefulness Research Articles

Clinical Experiences Using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders

Data suggests that despite the availability of evidence-based psychological treatments for eating disorders (EDs), techniques from these therapies may be less frequently used within real-life clinical practice. The aim of this study was to provide the opportunity for clinicians to give feedback on their experiences treating EDs using cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) through reporting on use of CBT techniques and barriers to treatment implementation in naturalistic settings. Clinicians (N = 126) who self-identified as using CBT for EDs reported demographic information, frequency/usefulness of empirically supported treatment techniques, problems/limitations of CBT, and barriers faced while implementing CBT. The most frequently used technique reported by clinicians was psychoeducation, and the least frequently used technique was use of surveys to address mind reading. Patients’ unwillingness to follow a meal plan/nutritional guide was rated as the most impactful barrier, alongside ED severity. Of the problems/limitations of CBT, too little guidance on treating co-occurring symptoms was rated as the most impactful. This study provided a mechanism for clinicians to share their experiences using CBT for EDs in real-world settings. Overall, results regarding frequency of use and usefulness of techniques indicate a high level of endorsement. Moreover, the most frequently endorsed barriers to/limitations of CBT related to lack of guidance on treating complex ED presentations. Future research should explore ways to treat cases that go beyond the prototypical ED case and explore ways to adapt CBT to meet the needs of naturalistic treatment settings.

Frequency of use of online assessment by higher level teachers during confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this research was to review how often mathematics teachers use technological tools to assess their students and, the relationship established with the reliability, ease of use, and usefulness that teachers find in them; in order to offer them courses or workshops that allow them to use different tools that help them in the evaluation process, as well as, to show them different options of use for the different moments in their class, such as in diagnostic, formative or summative assessment. Under the paradigm of quantitative research, a questionnaire was applied to a random sample of 12 teachers from a public institution of higher education in Mexico City. All teachers were invited (N=14), but only 12 were able to participate; therefore, there was an 8% margin of error. The application of the questionnaire was during the period of confinement. The reliability of the questionnaire has been validated and Pearson correlation analyzes have been carried out, based on the variables: frequency and ease of use, usefulness, and reliability. The results showed that in the category of medium use, more than half of the teachers in the sample have shown a frequency of regular use of the online assessment tools. A comparison was made with the authors of the reviewed literature and coincidences were found with the answers given by the teachers. For example, there are authors who showed that teachers use ICT more frequently in their classes when they have all the necessary technological skills. Due to the above, various alternatives were proposed that encourage teachers to use it. The higher the frequency of use of online platforms, the greater the utility they find in them. With the results obtained, it is concluded that the frequency of use of online platforms positively influences the development of confidence that teachers must work with these tools.

Digital Workbooks in Flipped Nutrition Education: Student Perspectives’

Nutrition and dietetic (N&D) education is traditionally taught didactically; however, the flipped classroom approach (FCA) is an emerging pedagogical approach in this discipline. Technological tools providing cognitive support enhance learning, particularly when students are engaged. In N&D education, students have reported the FCA as engaging; however, evidence for how best to integrate technologies into the FCA is limited. The aim of this research is to explore undergraduate nutrition and dietetic students’ self-reported perceptions of the use of a digital workbook in nutrition courses designed and delivered using an FCA. A cross-sectional self-administered online survey was utilised to investigate Australian undergraduate student (N = 39) satisfaction, frequency of use, engagement with, and usefulness of a digital workbook. Most students (87%) were satisfied/very satisfied with the digital workbook as a tool for learning, applying and consolidating/revising course content. Most students (95%) agreed the digital workbook was engaging, providing comments related to workbook design, encouraged participation and novelty. Most useful aspects reported were workbook structure, development of a learning artefact, self-directed aspects and convenience, whereas, least useful aspects included technological issues. The use of a digital workbook in N&D education was well received and is an innovative approach to delivering courses taught with an FCA.

Ethical problems in nursing management \u2013 a cross-sectional survey about solving problems

BackgroundNurse managers encounter a wide range of ethical problems related to patients, staff, the organisation and themselves. However, little is known about the methods they use to try to solve these problems. In this study, our goal is to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the ethical problems encountered by nurse managers, the frequency of use and usefulness of different methods to solve these problems, and the background factors associated with the use of the methods.MethodsA cross-sectional survey study was conducted in November 2014–May 2015 in Finland. The data were collected from nurse managers in strategic, middle and ward management (n = 214) using a questionnaire developed for this study. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: socio-demographic background factors, frequency and difficulty of ethical problems in nursing management, frequency of use and usefulness of the methods in solving ethical problems, and work-related background factors.ResultsDiscussions with nurses was the most frequently used method, used by 94% of the nurse managers either often or always in the case of ethical problems, followed by the use of personal values (74%) and discussions with manager colleagues (70%). However, almost all methods in the different groups – discussion and deliberation, use of outside experts, written instructions and ethical principles, acts and degrees as well as work arrangements – were considered somewhat or very useful by more than half of the respondents. The use of outside experts was the least used and the least useful method.ConclusionsWhen solving ethical problems, nurse managers use most frequently the same methods as a few decades ago. A more diverse range of methods would be helpful in ethical problem-solving. The use of outside experts, ethics literature and codes of ethics should be combined with ethical reasoning and decision-making to get new dimensions and outside knowledge.

Tips for children's better cooperation during the examination of the head and neck: A Delphi method

ObjectiveTo obtain and rate tips for the head and neck examination in children. MethodsA two-round Delphi method study was conducted to survey 13 practising paediatric otolaryngologists (PO) in North America and Europe to obtain tips on how to approach a 2- to 6-year-old child for head and neck examination. The tips were rated by the PO according to their frequency of utilization and usefulness on a scale of 1 (high) to 6 (low). One-sample Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to evaluate each tip according to frequency of use and success rate. “Top Tips” were identified when both their Wilcoxon p-values were still significant, after a Bonferroni correction. An exact chi-square test for equality of proportions was used to determine the age groups for which satisfactory tips are to be favoured. ResultsThe panellists rated forty-three tips. Seven tips obtained a p-value ≤0.001 for the frequency of use and usefulness in all age groups with an emphasis on the initial moments: eye contact, mood assessment, approach behaviour and strategy. Six more tips proved to be satisfactory for specific age groups without reaching the top tip significance level. ConclusionsSeven tips to approach a 2- to 6-year-old child reached a top consensus between the experts. Initial eye contact with the child and mood assessment are essential for a satisfactory outcome. The use of a gentle approach with explanation of each step of the physical exam and avoidance of pain are also important.

OUTSTANDING POSTER-RESEARCH

Introduction/aims Improving patient care quality, safety, and efficiency with the help of clinical decision support tools is one of the core objectives in the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). Successful adoption of support systems depends on the usefulness of delivered information, its relevance to the clinical task and each individual patient, ease of system navigation, and integration with clinical workflow. In 2009, the National Institutes of Health in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine developed and implemented a decision support system to enhance evidence-based practice activities called the EBP InfoBot. This system provides the clinician with a variety of information and resources to assist with clinical decision making by automatically extracting select patient information directly from the EHR, spell checking and mapping free-text data to SNOWMED or UMLS terms, searching appropriate databases, and displaying a summary of evidence at the point of care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the EBP InfoBot to determine frequency of use, relevance, and usefulness of the system output for decision support and evidence based practice activities. Methods/process/procedures A nonexperimental, descriptive, survey design study was conducted in a large Mid-Atlantic research hospital where approximately 900 clinical research nurses and research nurse coordinators could potentially utilize the EBP InfoBot. The facility has 256 beds with more than 19 000 outpatient encounters each year. Evaluation methods included automatic tracking of usage, electronic surveys, and focus groups. Survey data were collected over a 3-month period following integration with the EHR. Online surveys were available following each encounter with the decision support output. Usage data were collected over a 3-year period using automated tracking that was part of the system. Results Nearly 30 000 transactions occurred between August 2009 and August 2012 related to InfoBot usage. Micromedex, generic searches, clinical trials, and definitions were high on the list of most used activities. Clinical guidelines and standards of practice were the least used items partly because this feature was not available the first year. The majority (70%) of respondents indicated there was adequate information available, with 30% requesting expansion to additional resources. Mean scores for “usefulness” and “relevance” ranged from 3.5 and greater, indicating a high level of satisfaction with information provided in all categories. Recommended enhancements from the focus groups included the ability to change search parameters, increase the number of articles from 10 to 15, and add Pill Box images for quick identification of medications. Discussion/outcomes Overall, survey results indicated the system was easy to use, and information and resources were relevant and useful for clinical care. Availability of the EBP InfoBot from within the EHR provided clinicians with easy access to educational and evidence-based resources, which can enhance clinical decision making. Future research should focus on evaluating the impact of these resources on patient care outcomes. Future development will include expanding functionality to support the EBP needs of physicians and other clinicians. There are also implications for consumer use of the EBP InfoBot as a way to educate patients and manage their care.

Evaluation of electronic public services in agriculture in the Czech Republic

The goals of the paper are to analyze the uptake and to evaluate the quality of electronic public services among Czech agricultural enterprises. A sample of 119 entrepreneurs in the agriculture from different regions in the Czech Republic was chosen. This research is based on the application of scientific analysis, synthesis and deduction. Descriptive statistics were calculated from the data obtained in the questionnaire survey. There were fifteen different electronic services examined in the survey. Respondents made a plain ordinal-scaled evaluation of all used services in terms of the frequency of use, usefulness, importance and quality. Working hypotheses about dependencies among rates of use of particular services and five factors (plant production, animal raising, hectares of land, number of employees, subsidies) were examined with regression analysis. Eleven statistically significant dependencies were proved between the number of hectares and electronic services, which means that with growing number of hectares of land the rate of use of particular electronic services increases. Electronic services provided at eAGRI Portal run by Czech Ministry of Agriculture were utilized the most among agricultural enterprises (each by more than 50 %) and electronic mail (79 %). eAGRI Portal services were assessed the best in terms of importance, usefulness and quality. Farmers and agricultural businesses in the Czech Republic are currently not obliged by any law to use any electronic service, and they can still opt for traditional paper mail or personal visit.

Observational study of the frequency of use and perceived usefulness of ancillary manoeuvres to facilitate colonoscopy completion

A paucity of information exists regarding the frequency of use and usefulness of ancillary manoeuvres such as applying abdominal pressure and changing patient position to successfully complete colonoscopy. This information would be useful to understand and improve colonoscopy technique. We sought to determine the frequency, type and perceived success of ancillary manoeuvres used when performing colonoscopy during routine clinical practice. A prospective, observational study was conducted at an outpatient endoscopy centre with a diverse group of colonoscopists. Our hypothesis was that ancillary manoeuvres would be used frequently by endoscopists of varying levels of experience and would be helpful in achieving successful caecal intubation. Information collected included patient and staff characteristics, procedural information and use of ancillary manoeuvres. Additional descriptive information was obtained when a manoeuvre was performed. One thousand three hundred and twenty-seven patients participated (691 women; mean age 62.5+/-12.3). The caecum was reached in 94% of cases. One or more ancillary manoeuvres were used in 73% of cases. Whilst one or two manoeuvres were helpful to achieve caecal intubation, increased manoeuvres were associated with an increased risk of incomplete colonoscopy. These data suggest that ancillary manoeuvres are used frequently but are not necessarily predictive of successful caecal intubation. Additional data from prospective, randomised studies are needed to address the overall utility and optimal application of individual manoeuvres.

Reading Assessment and Instructional Practices in Special Education

This study analyzed the instructional reading methods and reading assessment practices employed by K-12 special education teachers. Eight hundred special education teachers from four Midwestern states were surveyed regarding the frequency of use and usefulness of standardized and informal reading assessment practices and the frequency with which they used various reading instructional techniques. Responses were analyzed to determine percent of teachers employing each technique and the mean rating of usefulness assigned to each. Analysis included examination of the relationships between grade levels and instructional settings and teachers' preferences for reading instructional and assessment practices. The survey found that reading assessment practices present in the literature are not commonly used by special education teachers.

Metrics for assessing information technology performance in the service sector

Assessing information technology (IT) performance has become increasingly important as companies continue to invest heavily in IT to streamline and reengineer business operations in order to compete more effectively in the global environment. This study examines metrics used to assess IT performance in the service sector. Data were collected using a mail survey of companies in the service sector. The metrics were assessed in terms of their frequency of use and usefulness. Results showed that the top IT performance metrics tend to be operational rather than financial in nature. Implications of the results are discussed.

Neighborhood behavior: a useful concept for validation of "molecular diversity" descriptors.

When searching for new leads, testing molecules that are too "similar" is wasteful, but when investigating a lead, testing molecules that are "similar" to the lead is efficient. Two questions then arise. Which are the molecular descriptors that should be "similar"? How much "similarity" is enough? These questions are answered by demonstrating that, if a molecular descriptor is to be a valid and useful measure of "similarity" in drug discovery, a plot of differences in its values vs differences in biological activities for a set of related molecules will exhibit a characteristic trapezoidal distribution enhancement, revealing a "neighborhood behavior" for the descriptor. Applying this finding to 20 datasets allows 11 molecular diversity descriptors to be ranked by their validity for compound library design. In order of increasing frequency of usefulness, these are random numbers = log P = MR = strain energy < connectivity indices < 2D fingerprints (whole molecule) = atom pairs = autocorrelation indices < steric CoMFA fields = 2D fingerprints (side chain only) = H-bonding CoMFA fields.