Ordinal Index Research Articles

Relationships between level of disability and receipt of preventive health services

Diab ME, Johnston MV. Relationships between level of disability and receipt of preventive health services. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:749-57. Objectives To examine relationships between level of disability and receipt of certain preventive health services, including demographic and systems variables that may explain or confound these relationships. Design Analysis of recent (1998 and 2000) data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a nationwide telephone survey. Setting States reporting data on disability (13 in 1998, 18 in 2000). Participants Noninstitutionalized persons living in the community. Interventions Not applicable. Main outcome measures Frequency of receipt of recommended preventive health services, including colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer screening, and influenza and pneumococcal vaccination. An ordinal index of disability severity was constructed from questions on activity limitations. Results In 2000, people with mild and moderate disability received influenza and pneumonia vaccinations somewhat more frequently than people without disabilities, but people with the most severe disabilities least frequently received vaccinations that year. Disabled women received fewer Papanicolaou tests and clinical breast examinations, but significant differences did not occur for mammograms in 2000. Fewer differences as a function of disability level were apparent in 2000 than 1998. Demographic variables affected receipt of most preventive services. Access to routine checkups affected all preventive services independent of disability level in both years. Conclusions Severity of disability is related to receipt of certain preventive services but not necessarily in a simple or unidirectional way. Regardless of disability, receipt of a checkup was an important determinant of receipt of preventive health services. For almost all services and groups studied, preventive care remained below targeted goals for Healthy People 2010.

The Uniform Convergence Ordinal Index and the l1-Behavior of a Sequence of Functions

In this paper we introduce and study two indices of a uniformly bounded sequence (f n ) of real valued functions defined on a set Γ and converging pointwise to a function f. The first index ξ (f n ) measures uniform convergence of (f n ), while the second index ξ (f n -f) + measures the relation of the sequence (f n -f) to the positive face of the usual basis of 1 . There is a close connection between these two indices, indicated by: (a) ξ (f n ) < ω 1 ⇔ ξ (f n -f) + < ω 1 ; and (b) if ξ (f n ) < ω 1 then ξ (f n -f) +=ω ζ where ζ is the least ordinal with ξ (f n ) ≤ ω ζ . Using this connection the following dichotomies hold: either [Case ξ (f n ) = ω 1 ](f n -f) has an l 1 +-subsequence; or [Case ξ (f n ) < ω 1 ](f n ) converges weakly to f in the Banach space l∞(Γ). Fixing the least countable ordinal ζ with ξ (f n ) ≤ ω ζ we obtain for every countable ordinal a the further dichotomy: either [Case a < ζ] there exist a subsequence of (f n - f) with l 1 -spreading model of order a; or [Case α ≥ ζ]the sequence (f n ) converges ω α -uniformly to f; equivalently every subsequence of (f n ) has an A ω α-convex block subsequence converging uniformly to f. ((A ξ ) l ≤ ξ<ωl is the complete thin Schreier system introduced previously by the author). There are applications of these results to Banach space theory.

The relationship between self-reported cardiovascular disease and periodontitis and carotid calcification assessed from panoramic radiographs is not clear

Summary Subjects Of 1084 persons sampled, 1064 had panoramic radiographs0689 (PMX); 485 of the subjects (46%) were male; the mean age was 67 years. Recruitment was from Seattle (65%) and Vancouver (35%). Forty-seven percent were Caucasian, 31% Asian, 10% East Indian (mainly Sikh), 8% African American, and 3% other races. All the East Indians were recruited from Vancouver. Dates of data collection were not given. Exposure The exposure was alveolar bone height assessed by using0689 an ordinal index of 4 categories. No further details were provided. Carotid calcification was said to be present if a radiopaque mass or 2 vertical radiopaque lines were present at the lower margin of the third cervical vertebra (C3). In Seattle all radiographs were taken at 1 center, whereas in Vancouver radiographs were taken at multiple centers. Main outcome measure Histories were obtained by interviews. All non-native0689 English-speaking participants had translators. Main results The authors observed a statistically significant association 0689 between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and periodontitis, CVD and carotid calcification, and carotid calcification and periodontitis. However, the results were not significant after adjustment for smoking (Table 1; Fig 1).

Functions of Baire class one

Let $K$ be a compact metric space. A real-valued function on $K$ is said to be of Baire class one (Baire-$1$) if it is the pointwise limit of a sequence of continuous functions. We study two well known ordinal indices of Baire-$1$ functions, the oscillat

Ordinal indices and Ramsey dichotomies measuring c0-content and semibounded completeness

Ordinal indices and Ramsey dichotomies measuring c₀-content and semibounded completeness

Pressure Dependence of the Birefringence in AgGaS2

We measured the pressure dependence of polarized transmission spectra on AgGaS2 at 2 K. These spectra show an oscillatory behavior around the zero-birefringence energy E0 where the ordinal and extraordinal refractive indices coincide. Using this oscillation we determined E0 under hydrostatic pressures. From the difference of pressure dependences of E0 and the energy gap for the upper valence band, it is expected that the pressure dependence of the energy gap for the next valence bands is smaller than that for the upper one. Thus the tetragonal crystal field splitting decreases with increasing pressure. We discuss it in terms of p–d hybridization in the valence bands.

Effect of Cigarette Promotions on Smoking Uptake among Adolescents

Background. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between receptivity to cigarette promotions and smoking uptake in a cohort of adolescents.Methods and Measures. This was a prospective cohort study of 480 4th- to 11th-grade students conducted in three rural Vermont K–12 schools. Cigarette use was determined by self-report at baseline, 12 months (survey 2), and 21 months (survey 3). Proportional odds models were used to evaluate smoking uptake as a function of baseline measures of cigarette use, receptivity to cigarette promotions, and confounding factors, including grade, parental education, peer smoking, and family smoking. Adolescents were receptive to cigarette promotions if they owned or were willing to use a personal item bearing a cigarette brand logo [cigarette promotional item (CPI)]. Smoking status was measured using a 6-point ordinal index that combined experience and attitudes: 0 = never smoker/not susceptible to smoking, 1 = never smoker/susceptible to smoking, 2 = puffer (1 cigarette or less in lifetime), 3 = non-current experimenter (2–99 cigarettes in lifetime/none in past 30 days), 4 = current experimenter, and 5 = smoker (≥100 cigarettes in lifetime).Results. The 480 students were equally distributed across grade at baseline. Environmental exposure to smoking was high, and 30% were receptive to cigarette promotions at baseline. Higher levels on the smoking index at baseline were associated with higher grade in school, peer smoking, and receptivity to cigarette promotions. One hundred eighty-five students (38.5%) had moved to a higher category on the smoking index by survey 3, of whom 30 had become smokers. Receptivity to cigarette promotions at baseline was significantly associated with higher smoking uptake, with 48.7% of receptive students moving up one or more categories on the smoking index [adjusted proportional odds 1.9 (95% CI 1.3, 2.9)]. Acquisition of receptivity to cigarette promotions was also associated with increased smoking uptake, with those becoming receptive in surveys 2 or 3 having significantly higher odds of progression [3.6 (1.8, 7.0) and 2.9 (1.5, 5.5), respectively] compared with those who did not change. Conversely, those who were receptive at one point but became non-receptive in surveys 2 or 3 had lower odds of progression [0.4 (0.2, 0.9) and 0.5 (0.3, 1.1), respectively].Conclusions This study supports a close linkage between tobacco promotional activities and uptake of smoking among adolescents beyond baseline descriptions of receptivity to cigarette promotions. Over time, the likelihood of smoking uptake is increased when an adolescent acquires a CPI or becomes willing to use one and is decreased when an adolescent who owns a CPI loses it or becomes unwilling to use it. This provides strong evidence that elimination of cigarette promotional campaigns could reduce adolescent smoking.

Construcción y validación de un índice de gravedad para pacientes hospitalizados en áreas clínicas

Severity of illness indexes for hospitalized patients are frequently used for the assessment of hospital performance. The purpose here was to develop and validate a quantitative index for clinical areas which could measure severity of illness during hospitalization period and would be easy to obtain from the information contained in a regular clinical chart. The construction included item selection and search for items weights. Experts and literature were consulted and 74 clinical records provided empirical information. The result was the proposal of an index with two alternatives: one quantitative and the other ordinal with four levels of severity. Validation included four aspects of validity, general reliability, interrater agreement and internal consistency. Sixteen specialized physicians assessed content and face validity. One hundred clinical records of discharged patients were used to assess criterion, construct validity and reliability. Results show satisfactory validity in almost all aspects. The reliability coefficient was 0.95, Kappa coefficient was 0.4 for the ordinal index and correlation coefficients over 0.93 for the quantitative one. The index is ready for current applications in this context although some suggestions for future improvements were also included.

Prediction of obstruent spectra from the slope of preceding and following second formant transitions

There is evidence that the slope of second formant (F2) transitions provides an index of the severity of speech mechanism involvement in motor speech disorders [Weismer etal., 1085–1098 (1992)]. From an articulatory perspective, the slope of the F2 transition is an ordinal index of the rate of change in vocal tract configuration. It was hypothesized that, for single words, these F2 slopes would predict quantitative spectral characteristics of adjacent obstruents, under the assumption that the rate of change in vocal tract configuration during a vocalic segment would influence the articulation of a preceding or following obstruent. Quantification of obstruent spectra was achieved by means of spectral moments, which were regressed on F2 transition slopes for a group of normally articulating men and a group with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative motoneuron disease typically associated with dysarthria. Results partially confirmed the hypothesis for both groups of subjects; the findings will be discussed in terms of separate treatment of vocalic and obstruent segments in a model of speech intelligibility. [Work supported by NIH.]

The onset of the Little Ice Age in Andalusia (southern Spain): detection and characterization from documentary sources

Abstract. In this work the onset of the "Little Ice Age" period in Andalusia (southern Spain) is analysed from documentary data, focusing attention on the evolution of the climate during the 16th and 17th centuries. It is shown that changes in the rainfall regime have been more important than those in the temperature in studying the Andalusian climate change. Analysis of the total annual precipitation is carried out by codifying the documentary data and establishing an ordinal index. Several statistical methods are used to detect and characterize climate changes in the region. The results suggest a fluctuating evolution, without trends or abrupt changes, with a prevailing wet period from 1550 to 1650 AD. Cycles of ~17, 3.5 and 2.1 years are detected. Some possible causal mechanisms are suggested.

The onset of the Little Ice Age in Andalusia (southern Spain): detection and characterization from documentary sources

In this work the onset of the "Little Ice Age" period in Andalusia (southern Spain) is analysed from documentary data, focusing attention on the evolution of the climate during the 16th and 17th centuries. It is shown that changes in the rainfall regime have been more important than those in the temperature in studying the Andalusian climate change. Analysis of the total annual precipitation is carried out by codifying the documentary data and establishing an ordinal index. Several statistical methods are used to detect and characterize climate changes in the region. The results suggest a fluctuating evolution, without trends or abrupt changes, with a prevailing wet period from 1550 to 1650 AD. Cycles of ~17, 3.5 and 2.1 years are detected. Some possible causal mechanisms are suggested.

Mississippian Period Status Differentiation through Textile Analysis: A Caddoan Example

Specific attributes were recorded for 119 textiles recovered from burial contexts from Craig Mound at the Spiro site and eight southern Ozark bluff shelters. Textile attributes that varied according to status designations of the burial contexts were identified using the following three avenues of investigation. The textiles were rated using an ordinal index of production complexity, and more complex textiles were found to be associated with burial contexts of presumed higher status. Use of a series of contingency tables identified edge finishes, color, patterning, design motif, fiber, and scale as attributes that are individually associated with status differences. When selected attributes were considered together using a classification and pattern-recognition program, color description, scale, fiber, and number of yarn components were identified as the best predictors of status association.

Household equivalence scales and welfare comparisons: A comment

This note investigates recent claims by Lewbel regarding the use of equivalence scales in welfare analysis and finds them wanting. We go on to show that scaled income (income divided by the equivalence scale of the household) is an ordinal index of household well-being if and only if preferences are homothetic. Furthermore, we show that these scaled incomes can rank projects consistently with a Pareto-inclusive Bergson-Samuelson social-welfare function if and only if preferences satisfy full-homotheticity (an interhousehold homotheticity condition).

Mississippian Period Status Differentiation through Textile Analysis: A Caddoan Example

Specific attributes were recorded for 119 textiles recovered from burial contexts from Craig Mound at the Spiro site and eight southern Ozark bluff shelters. Textile attributes that varied according to status designations of the burial contexts were identified using the following three avenues of investigation. The textiles were rated using an ordinal index of production complexity, and more complex textiles were found to be associated with burial contexts of presumed higher status. Use of a series of contingency tables identified edge finishes, color, patterning, design motif, fiber, and scale as attributes that are individually associated with status differences. When selected attributes were considered together using a classification and pattern-recognition program, color description, scale, fiber, and number of yarn components were identified as the best predictors of status association.

Ordinal utility and economic price indices

Ordinal utility and economic price indices

Ordinal utility and economic price indices

In economic price index theory, a reference level of utility is needed for measuring the change in the cost of living oetween a base period and a comparison period. A reference level function can be used to derive this reference utility level from the utilities attained at the base and at the comparison prices. Depending on the scale type of the underlying utility function, the reference level function has to satisfy certain invariance conditions. In this paper, these conditions are formulated as functional equations for interval scales and for ordinal utility scales. By solving these equations, we characterize the class of admissible reference level functions for the respective scale type.

Self-reported health status of Vietnam veterans in relation to perceived exposure to herbicides and combat.

The authors examined how the self-reported health of 7,924 US Army Vietnam veterans in 1985-1986 related to the men's perceived exposure to herbicides and combat in Vietnam. The results showed strong, positive associations between the extent of reported herbicide exposure (classified as a four-level ordinal index) and all 21 health outcomes studied, with clear "dose-response" relations in most instances. In contrast, only chloracne and psychological symptoms, including a symptom pattern consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder, were found to be strongly related to the amount of reported combat exposure (classified as a four-level ordinal index). The multiple herbicide/outcome associations seem implausible because of their nonspecificity and because of collateral biologic evidence suggesting the absence of widespread exposure to dioxin-containing herbicides among US Army combat units. These associations may have resulted from long-term stress reactions that produced somatization, hypochondriasis, and increased utilization of medical care among some Vietnam veterans. The available data suggest, however, that the association between reported combat exposure and psychological symptoms consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder may be causal.

On measuring the quality of life

It is widely recognized that per capita income is not an adequate indicator of aggregate well-being. It has thus become customary to use a range of socioeconomic indices for assessing the quality of life in a society. In this article we extend measures of general well-being in current use by including ordinal indices of political and civil liberties, and we provide a ranking of the world's poorest countries on the basis of the Borda Rule. We then compare improvements in socioeconomic performance with the availability of political and civil liberties during the decade of the 1970s and observe that improvements in per capita national income, life expectancy at birth, and infant mortality are positively correlated with the extent of political and civil liberties enjoyed by citizens, while improvements in literacy are negatively correlated with these liberties.

Reliability and validity of a combat exposure index for vietnam era verterans

The reliability and validity of a self-report measure of combat exposure are examined in a cohort of male-male twin pairs who served in the military during the Vietnam era. Test-retest reliability for a five-level ordinal index of combat exposure is assessed by use of 192 duplicate sets of responses. The chance-corrected proportion in agreement (as measured by the kappa coefficient) is .84. As a measure of criterion-related validity, the combat index is correlated with the award of combat-related military medals ascertained from the military records. The probability of receiving a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Commendation Medal and Combat Infantry Badge is associated strongly with the combat exposure index. These results show that this simple index is a reliable and valid measure of combat exposure.

The primary-goods indexation problem in Rawls's theory of justice

Rawls's Difference Principle holds that basic social institutions are just if they maximize the worst-off individual's potential welfare, which depends on the vector of amounts of “primary goods.” As Rawls recognized, the multiplicity of primary goods poses an index number problem. This paper uses the machinery of social choice to characterize the class of procedures for aggregating quantities of several primary goods into a composite ordinal index that are consistent with Rawls's analysis. Only very simple and unattractive aggregation methods in which the various primary goods play roles of radically different magnitudes are compatible with Rawls's argument.