Simplified Scales Research Articles

Comparing three clinical prediction rules for primarily predicting the 30-day mortality of patients with pulmonary embolism: The "Simplified Revised Geneva Score," the "Original PESI," and the "Simplified PESI".

Background:Patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) should be evaluated for the clinical probability of PE using an applicable risk score. The Geneva prognostic score, the PE Severity Index (PESI), and its simplified version (sPESI) are well-known clinical prognostic scores for PE. The purpose of this study was to analyze these clinical scores as prognostic tools.Materials and Methods:A historical cohort study was conducted on patients with acute PE in Al-Zahra Teaching Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, from June 2013 to August 2014. To compare survival in the 1-month follow-up and factor-analyze mortality from the survival graph, Kaplan–Meier, and log-rank logistic regression were applied.Results:Two hundred and twenty four patients were assigned to two “low risk” and “high risk” groups using the three versions of “Simplified PESI, Original PESI, and Simplified Geneva.” They were followed for a period of 1 month after admission. The overall mortality rate within 1 month from diagnosis was about 24% (95% confidence interval, 21.4–27.2). The mortality rate of low risk PE patients was about 4% in the PESI, 17% in the Geneva, and <1% in the simplified PESI scales (P < 0.005). The mortality rate among high risk patients was 33%, 33.5%, and 27.5%, respectively.Conclusions:Among patients with acute PE, the simplified PESI model was able to accurately predict mortality rate for low risk patients. Among high risk patients, however, the difference between the three models in predicting prognosis was not significant.

Pulmonary embolism: clinical guidelines of European Society of Cardiology (2014)*

These clinical recommendations summarized currently available evidence on diagnosis and management of patients with pulmonary embolism. When compared to previous version of recommendations, this document has introduced simplified clinical prognostic scales and a new risk stratification system including intermediate risk. Novel approach to anticoagulant therapy have been also reviewed including systemic thrombolysis, catheterdirected treatment, vitamin K antagonists and new oral anticoagulants.

A Review Study of Psychometric Functioning of a Picture Scale to Assess Joy in Childhood

The early emergence of emotional understanding by means of facial expressions allows the assessment of basic emotions from young ages through pictures or photographs of human faces. This evaluation strategy allows children, with limited language to reveal feelings that neither investigators nor clinicians would be able to obtain verbally. The present work presents a non-verbal activity aimed at testing children’s joy. It is based on a visual analogue scale integrated by seven pictures of infant facial expressions. This scale has the advantage of presenting an animated design, more friendly and appealing than simplified face scales. Its psychometric functioning, revised from different studies, demonstrates that it is a reliable and valid alternative to analyze the experience of joy in small children.

Pulmonary embolism: clinical guidelines of European Society of Cardiology (2014).The Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology for diagnosis and management of pulmonary embolism

These clinical recommendations summarized currently available evidence on diagnosis and management of patients with pulmonary embolism. When compared to previous version of recommendations, this document has introduced simplified clinical prognostic scales and a new risk stratification system including intermediate risk. Novel approach to anticoagulant therapy have been also reviewed including systemic thrombolysis, catheterdirected treatment, vitamin K antagonists and new oral anticoagulants.

Follow-up of intracranial aneurysms treated by flow diverter: comparison of three-dimensional time-of-flight MR angiography (3D-TOF-MRA) and contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) sequences with digital subtraction angiography as the gold standard

Background and purposeFollow-up of intracranial aneurysms treated by flow diverter with MRI is complicated by imaging artifacts produced by these devices. This study compares the diagnostic accuracy of three-dimensional time-of-flight...

Comparison between symptoms and endoscopy in children with nasal obstruction

Objective Nasal obstruction is a common symptom in childhood. It may be frequently observed in children with allergic rhinitis and/or adenoidal hypertrophy. However, its assessment is very difficult. The aim of the study was to compare the use of both a Face Related Scale (FRS), recorded by children and their parents, and a simplified Visual Analogue Scales (sVAS) with nasal endoscopy in children complaining nasal obstruction. Methods 121 children (75 males, mean age 7.5 years) were studied. FRS and sVAS for nasal obstruction and endoscopy were performed in all patients. Results A moderate correlation has been observed between FRS and sVAS and obstruction of nasal anterior segment ( r = 0.51 for FRS; r = 0.52 for sVAS), a strong correlation was observed with nasal posterior segment ( r = 0.60 for FRS; r = 0.61 for sVAS) assessed by endoscopy. However, parents’ perception did not relate with objective parameters. Conclusions This study suggests that assessment of FRS and sVAS for nasal obstruction may be used in clinical practice to approximately quantify this symptom in children.

Measuring Well-Being among Spanish Older Adults: Development of a Simplified Version of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being

Two studies were designed to develop and obtain information about the psychometric properties of a shortened 54-item, Spanish version of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being adapted to older people. In Study 1, 267 older people completed the scales, and data were submitted to a principal components analysis. Then, 22 items were selected and grouped into four components (Self-confidence, Orientation to present, Stress, and Social tension) to form the Simplified Ryff's Well-being Scales. In Study 2, the new scales were administered to 107 older people. While internal consistency estimates were similar to those generally obtained for the 54-item scale, results extracted from a confirmatory factor analysis did not support any factorial model. Although the simplified scales can distinguish between conceptually different approaches to well-being, further studies are needed to obtain estimates of reliability and validity.

Predictive value of P300 event-related potentials compared with EEG and somatosensory evoked potentials in non-traumatic coma.

Developments in ethical decision making are increasing demand for more accurate predictions of outcome in coma. New neurophysiologic tests are needed to improve the ability to predict awakening as well as poor outcome. We have recently reported that the P300 event-related potential (P300) correlates with awakening and depth of nontraumatic coma. In this companion study, the predictive value of the P300 was compared with median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) and EEG in 20 patients in non-traumatic coma. We also evaluated the predictive value of a simplified grading scale for both the EEG and SEP (the USC SEP scale and USC EEG scale). The presence of a P300 was significantly associated with higher Glasgow coma scores (GCS) and awakening. Severe abnormalities of the somatosensory evoked potentials significantly correlated with the absence of awakening and a low GCS. Moderate abnormalities of the SEP were significantly associated with awakening and higher GCS scores. The EEG was significantly associated with GCS score and severe abnormalities of the EEG were predictive of the absence of awakening and very low GCS scores. The data indicates that the P300 and SEP are more effective than the EEG in predicting awakening, and that the SEP and EEG are more effective than the P300 in predicting poor outcome. We conclude that, in addition to EEG and SEP, the P300 should be considered in the prognostic evaluation of patients in nontraumatic coma. Further, simplified scales for the EEG and SEP are predictive of depth of coma and outcome.

Evaluation of Mental Workload Associated with Operating an Agricultural Sprayer in Response to Three Different GPS Navigation Aids

In modern agricultural spraying, the commonly used guidance aid includes a GPS lightbar and/or a GPS mapping unit. A lightbar display and a mapping display both present guidance information, but in different formats. A stacked display was developed with the intent of drawing on the advantages of both types of displays. The objective of this research was to identify the display that would produce the least amount of mental workload. Mental workload was measured by performance measures, physiological measures, and subjective rating scales. Performance measures included lateral root mean square error for driving performance and reaction time for secondary task performance. Physiological measures included two measures of eye-glance behavior. The subjective rating scale included the simplified SWAT scales. Sixteen male university students participated in this study. They were trained to drive an agricultural driving simulator. Performance measures clearly indicated that the driving performance and monitoring performance were highest for the lightbar display. Physiological measures also showed a similar trend: less mental workload was associated with the lightbar display. Eye-glance behavior revealed that when the guidance information was available through the stacked and mapping displays, subjects spent more time looking at the display. Subjective rating scales contradicted performance and physiological data; more mental workload was observed for the lightbar display. While performance and physiological measures suggest that the lightbar display induced the lowest mental workload, subjective ratings of workload contradicted these findings.

A Comparison of Five Simplified Scales to the Out‐of‐hospital Glasgow Coma Scale for the Prediction of Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes

The 15-point Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) frequently is used in the initial evaluation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in out-of-hospital settings. We hypothesized that the GCS might be unnecessarily complex for out-of-hospital use. To assess whether a simpler scoring system might demonstrate similar accuracy in the prediction of TBI outcomes. We performed a retrospective analysis of a trauma registry consisting of patients evaluated at our Level 1 trauma center from 1990 to 2002. The ability of out-of-hospital GCS scores to predict four clinically relevant TBI outcomes (emergency intubation, neurosurgical intervention, brain injury, and mortality) by using areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs) was calculated. The same analyses for five simplified scales were performed, and compared with the predictive accuracies of the total GCS score. In this evaluation of 7,233 trauma patients over a 12-year period of time, the AUROCs for the total GCS score were 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.81 to 0.84) for emergency intubation, 0.86 (95% CI = 0.85 to 0.88) for neurosurgical intervention, 0.83 (95% CI = 0.82 to 0.84) for brain injury, and 0.89 (95% CI = 0.88 to 0.90) for mortality. The five simplified scales approached the performance of the total GCS score for all clinical outcomes. In the evaluation of injured patients, five simplified neurological scales approached the performance of the total GCS score for the prediction of four clinically relevant TBI outcomes.

A Comparison of Five Simplified Scales to the Out-of-hospital Glasgow Coma Scale for the Prediction of Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes

Background: The 15-point Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) frequently is used in the initial evaluation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in out-of-hospital settings. We hypothesized that the GCS might be unnecessarily complex for out-of-hospital use. Objectives: To assess whether a simpler scoring system might demonstrate similar accuracy in the prediction of TBI outcomes. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a trauma registry consisting of patients evaluated at our Level 1 trauma center from 1990 to 2002. The ability of out-of-hospital GCS scores to predict four clinically relevant TBI outcomes (emergency intubation, neurosurgical intervention, brain injury, and mortality) by using areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs) was calculated. The same analyses for five simplified scales were performed, and compared with the predictive accuracies of the total GCS score. Results: In this evaluation of 7,233 trauma patients over a 12-year period of time, the AUROCs for the total GCS score were 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.81 to 0.84) for emergency intubation, 0.86 (95% CI = 0.85 to 0.88) for neurosurgical intervention, 0.83 (95% CI = 0.82 to 0.84) for brain injury, and 0.89 (95% CI = 0.88 to 0.90) for mortality. The five simplified scales approached the performance of the total GCS score for all clinical outcomes. Conclusions: In the evaluation of injured patients, five simplified neurological scales approached the performance of the total GCS score for the prediction of four clinically relevant TBI outcomes.

Interrater Reliability of 3 Simplified Neurologic Scales Applied to Adults Presenting to the Emergency Department With Altered Levels of Consciousness

The Simplified Motor Score was recently found to exhibit equal test performance to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) when predicting 4 clinically important trauma outcomes. The present study tests the interrater reliability of the Simplified Motor Scale, the GCS and its components, and 2 other simplified neurologic scales when applied to patients presenting to the emergency department with altered levels of consciousness from any cause. In this prospective observational study, emergency physicians independently assigned the GCS, Simplified Motor Scale, and 2 4-point scales--AVPU (Alert, responds to Verbal stimuli, responds to Painful stimuli, Unresponsive) and ACDU (Alert, Confused, Drowsy, Unresponsive)--to qualifying adult subjects. Two physicians filled out prospective data forms within 5 minutes of each other while remaining blinded to each other's assessments. Data were pooled and analyzed for interrater reliability of all scales using simple agreement, unweighted kappa, Spearman's rho, and Kendall's tau-b. One hundred twenty-six subjects were enrolled, with 6 later excluded. Percentage agreements were 83% for the Simplified Motor Scale, 58% for the ACDU scale, 57% for the AVPU scale, and 42% for the Total GCS. The kappa values were 0.70 for the Simplified Motor Scale, 0.43 for ACDU, 0.41 for AVPU, and 0.32 for the Total GCS. The Simplified Motor Scale also had the highest Spearman's rho (.85) and second highest Kendall's tau-b (0.81). The Simplified Motor Scale has the best interrater reliability for the assessment of altered level of consciousness of traumatic and nontraumatic cause among the scales tested.

The Evaluation of Love

In the present paper we tried to obtain a brief, reliable, and valid theoretically based instrument to assess love dimensions within the area of intimate interpersonal relationships. To achieve this, preliminary scales were created based on Sternberg's three-factor model ( Sternberg, 1986 ) and its further refined four-factor model ( Yela, 1996 ). These scales were applied to a sample of 412 people. The results of the factor analysis suggest the appropriateness of using a short version of the preliminary scales (with just five items for each factor). The remaining data obtained from the analysis suggest that the simplified scales show similar psychometric strength to the long preliminary scales. This could be interesting for both basic research and for a potentially applied use.

Validity of Parent Ratings as Proxy Measures of Pain in Children with Cognitive Impairment

Parent-assigned pain scores have been used as proxy measures of pain for children, such as those with cognitive impairment (CI), who cannot self-report. However, the accuracy of parent-assigned pain ratings for children with CI has not been studied. This study evaluated the construct and criterion validity of parental pain scores of children with CI. Fifty-two children aged 4 to 19 years with CI and their parents/guardians were included in this observational study. Children were observed and assessed for pain by parents using the Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) observational tool and the 0 to 10 Numbers Scale, and simultaneously by nurses using the FLACC. Children who were cognitively able scored pain using simplified scales. Parent scores decreased after analgesic administration (6.4 ± 2.5 vs. 3.1 ± 2.3; p = .004), supporting their construct validity. Parents’ FLACC and Numbers ratings correlated well with nurse ratings (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.78 [confidence interval = 0.63–0.87] and intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.73 [confidence interval = 0.59–0.83], respectively). The parents’ coded Numbers ratings correlated moderately with their child’s ratings (rho = 0.57; p = .05) and agreed in 20% to 100% of cases (κ = 0.388). There was better overall agreement between parents’ FLACC scores and child ratings (33%–67% agreement; κ = 0.43). The parent underestimated the child’s pain with FLACC ratings in only one case (8%), but overestimated pain in three cases (25%). This study suggests that parents of children with CI provide reasonable estimates of their child’s pain, particularly when using a structured pain tool. Parents may, however, tend to overestimate their child’s pain during the early postoperative period.

Traditional, Likert, and Simplified Measures of Self-Efficacy

Three methods of measuring self-efficacy were compared: traditional, Likert, and a simplified scale. Scores on the three scales had highly similar reliability and validity and were strongly related. The Likert and simplified scales required 50% and 70% (respectively) fewer participant responses than the traditional format, whereas the traditional and Likert formats provided more specific diagnostic information.

高齢者のそしゃく機能と知的評価

It is important to understand the mental states of erderly patients in their dental treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral status, masticatory function and intelligence level in elderly patients. Subjects were 37 outpatients among those who visited the Gerodontic Clinic at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. Twenty-seven patients (average age 76.4 yrs) had both upper and lower full dentures, and 10 patients (average age 76.9 yrs) had occlusal contacts with the remaining teeth in their molar region. Dental examinations which includes recording of the number of residual teeth and centric stops were performed. Each patient's masticatory ability was estimated by the standardized questionnaire which was based on the patients' subjective response in masticating 100 different kinds of food. Both the edentulous and the partially edentulous patient groups were evaluated and compared using Okabe's simplified intelligence scales and Hasegawa's dementia rating scale.The results were as follows:1. There was no relationship between patient's edentulous/partially edentulous status and their intelligence level.2. There was no relationship between patient's masticatory ability and their intelligence level.

Dynamic surface effects of underground copper ore mining in the Legnica Copper District, Poland

Abstract In the region close to Legnica, Poland, copper ore is mined at a depth of about 900 m by the process of explored chambers collapsing as a consequence of controlled explosions. These explosions generate underground shocks which propagate to the surface as seismic waves. This paper discusses the characteristics of these waves, their propagation through the rock mass, the vibrations they cause at the ground surface and their effect on certain structures at the surface. Some data on seismic energy are presented and discussed, including cases of medium and maximum energy, up to 10 10 J. Surface vibrations above the explored ore layers are analysed using the spectral amplitude – frequency approach. The correlation between source energy and measured magnitude is discussed, together with surface effects, in terms of existing MCS and MSK scales. A method for evaluating the degree of potential damage to structures caused by the vibrations is presented; this involves computational analysis in accordance with physical load models determined from measurements and simplified scales of vibration (SWD). Structural engineering designs for withstanding these paraseismic influences in these areas are also mentioned.