scholarly journals Measuring Older Adult Loneliness Across Countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Newmyer ◽  
Ashton M Verdery ◽  
Rachel Margolis ◽  
Léa Pessin
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Measurement Properties ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Aging Studies ◽  
The World ◽  
Aging Adults

Abstract Objectives The topic of older adult loneliness commands increasing media and policy attention around the world. Are surveys of aging equipped to measure it? We assess the measurement of loneliness in large-scale aging studies in 31 countries by describing the available measures, testing correlations between them, and documenting their construct validity. Methods We use data from several “sister studies” of aging adults around the world. In each country, we document available loneliness measures, test for measurement reliability by examining correlations between different measures of loneliness, and assess how these correlations differ by gender and age group. We then evaluate construct validity by estimating correlations between loneliness measures and theoretically hypothesized constructs related to loneliness: living alone and not having a spouse. Results There is substantial heterogeneity in available measures of loneliness across countries. Within countries with multiple measures, the correlations between measures are high (range 0.384–0.777, median 0.636). Although we find several statistically significant differences in these correlations by gender and age, the differences are small (gender: range −0.098 to 0.081, median −0.026; age group: range −0.194 to 0.092, median −0.003). Correlations between loneliness measures and living alone and being without a spouse are all positive, almost universally statistically significant, and similar in magnitude across countries, supporting construct validity. Discussion This article establishes that even single-item measures of loneliness contribute meaningful information in diverse settings. Similar to the measurement of self-rated health, there are nuances to the measurement of older adult loneliness in different contexts, but it has reliable and consistent measurement properties within many countries.

scholarly journals Whole Genome Sequencing Analysis of Spike D614G Mutation Reveals Unique SARS-CoV-2 Lineages of B.1.524 and AU.2 in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ummu Afeera Zainulabid ◽  
Aini Syahida Mat Yassim ◽  
Sharmeen Nellisa Soffian ◽  
Mohamad Shafiq Mohd Ibrahim ◽  
Norhidayah Kamarudin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transmembrane Domain ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Viral Evolution ◽  
Spike Protein ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Sequencing Analysis ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
The World

The SARS-CoV-2 has spread throughout the world since its discovery in China, and Malaysia is no exception. WGS has been a crucial tool in studying the evolution and genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in the ongoing pandemic, and while an exceptional number of SARS-CoV-2 complete genomes have since been submitted to GISAID and NCBI, there is a scarcity of data from Malaysia. This study aims to report new Malaysian lineages responsible for the sustained spikes in COVID-19 cases during the third wave of the pandemic. Patients whose nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were confirmed positive by real-time RT-PCR with Ct-value < 25 were chosen for WGS. The 10 SARS-CoV-2 isolates obtained were then sequenced, characterized and analyzed, including 1356 sequences of the dominant lineages of D614G variant currently circulating throughout Malaysia. The prevalence of clade GH and G formed strong ground of the discovery of two Malaysian lineages that caused sustained spikes of cases locally. Statistical analysis on the association of gender and age group with Malaysian lineages revealed a significant association (p < 0.05). Phylogenetic analysis revealed dispersion of 41 lineages, for which 22 lineages are still active. Mutational analysis observed unique G1223C missense mutation in Transmembrane Domain of Spike protein. Thus, calls for the large-scale WGS analysis of strains found around the world for greater understanding of viral evolution and genetic diversity especially in addressing the question of the effect of deleterious substitution mutation in transmembrane region of Spike protein.

scholarly journals Macro MOOC Learning Analytics: Exploring Trends Across Global and Regional Providers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. Ruipérez-Valiente ◽  
Matt Jenner ◽  
Thomas Staubitz ◽  
Xitong Li ◽  
Tobias Rohloff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
The World ◽  
Limited Generalizability

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have opened new educational possibilities for learners around the world. Numerous providers have emerged, which usually have different targets (geographical, topics or language), but most of the research and spotlight has been concentrated on the global providers and studies with limited generalizability. In this work we apply a multi-platform approach generating a joint and comparable analysis with data from millions of learners and more than ten MOOC providers that have partnered to conduct this study. This allows us to generate learning analytics trends at a macro level across various MOOC providers towards understanding which MOOC trends are globally universal and which of them are context-dependent. The analysis reports preliminary results on the differences and similarities of trends based on the country of origin, level of education, gender and age of their learners across global and regional MOOC providers. This study exemplifies the potential of macro learning analytics in MOOCs to understand the ecosystem and inform the whole community, while calling for more large scale studies in learning analytics through partnerships among researchers and institutions.

scholarly journals THE TREND IN THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS FROM SERBIA IN THE BELGRADE MARATHON FROM 2007 TO 2019: THE EFFECT OF GENDER AND AGE

2019 ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Stanimir Stojiljković ◽  
Milan Matić ◽  
Ljubica Papić
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Female Veterans ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Male Veterans ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
The World ◽  
Linear Regressions ◽  
Age Category

The aim of the research is to analyze the trend in the number of participants in the Belgrade Marathon in the period 2007-2019: total, by gender and age categories, with a special reference to participants from Serbia. Using linear regressions, it was found that the total number of participants, both from Serbia and abroad, significantly increased; total number of male and female participants, both from Serbia and abroad, significantly increased ; the number of women is growing more than men every year, especially inthe sample of participants from Serbia; the number of participants by age categories of 5 years, for women and men from Serbia increased to the age group of 30-35 years, and then slowly decreased; the percentage of men and women in the 30-39 age category is increasing; the proportion of female seniors and female veterans is increasing. Statistically significant decreases: percentage of men in the 50-59 age category; percentage of male veterans. The percentage of male seniors didnot change. It can be concluded that the number of participants in the Belgrade Marathon, especially participants from Serbia, is increasing significantly, with a trend that exceeds many marathons in the world. The number of women is lower than in most marathons in the world, but the number of women from Serbia is increasing significantly compared to the number of men, which is in line with world trends. The number of male veterans is decreasing, which is different from most marathons in the world.

TO THE QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR TORTURE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-106
Author(s):  
ASTEMIR ZHURTOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Life ◽  
International Standards ◽  
World Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Russian Federation

Cruel and inhumane acts that harm human life and health, as well as humiliate the dignity, are prohibited in most countries of the world, and Russia is no exception in this issue. The article presents an analysis of the institution of responsibility for torture in the Russian Federation. The author comes to the conclusion that the current criminal law of Russia superficially and fragmentally regulates liability for torture, in connection with which the author formulated the proposals to define such act as an independent crime. In the frame of modern globalization, the world community pays special attention to the protection of human rights, in connection with which large-scale international standards have been created a long time ago. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international acts enshrine prohibitions of cruel and inhumane acts that harm human life and health, as well as degrade the dignity.Considering the historical experience of the past, these standards focus on the prohibition of any kind of torture, regardless of the purpose of their implementation.

Values and occupational choose

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Furfari ◽  
Sílvio Brito ◽  
Valeria Caggiano
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Human Values ◽  
International Literature ◽  
Professional Background ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Abstract Method

Several studies demonstrate that Schwartz’s (2006) theory of human values is valid in cultures previously beyond its range. We measured the 10 value constructs in the theory with the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), a new and less abstract method. This study explores the influence of values in a professional choose, focusing on the associations between social and professional background. The findings support the construct validity of the test. The results suggest, there is a matching between values and occupational choose, there are evident differences between gender and age. These results confirm the international literature about different gender and value system’s. Its theoretical meaning in the context of Schwartz’s culture-level value theory is discussed.

Diabetes related disease and disorder in a Chinese Q&A website: Comparison on frequency and position (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Feng ◽  
Ruocheng Huang ◽  
Shan Lu ◽  
Tao Shan ◽  
Hong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kidney Failure ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Healthcare Management ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Circulation System ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Disease Category ◽  
Old Patients ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Question And Answer

BACKGROUND With the development of the Internet, online medical community can help patient access to medical information and relevant decisions more conveniently, and meet the needs of patients for their own healthcare management. Mining these Q&A (Question and Answer) data, we can help doctors give more targeted feedback which improve the efficiency of question-and-answer, and patient satisfaction. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to (1) analysis frequency and position of diabetes related diseases or symptoms in Q&A website and (2) find out the differences of disease terms in gender and age using in the questions. METHODS We collected 5766 Q&A diabetes related data on the website of Chunyuyisheng from June 2012 to April 2020. In 38176 combined sentences, a vocabulary contains 3 categories of 3851 word and 2094 ICD (International Classification of Diseases) matching terms were obtained by calculating the similarity using word vectors. Proportion of the frequency of words and Mann-Whitney U test on word position were used to quantify the difference in patient’s gender and age group. RESULTS The vocabulary of the disease category accounts for 70%. We analyzed the word frequency and position in questions for different gender and age group. For gender, women participate in question answering more, accounting for 53% of total questions. They pay more attention to pregnancy, sleep and thyroid gland related vocabulary compared to men. Men focus more on circulation system, kidney failure related vocabulary. For different age group, pregnancy, glucose regulation, digestive and respiratory system related vocabulary have a higher proportion for patients under 40 years old. Patients over 40 years old pay more attention on kidney failure, cerebral ischaemia, infectious and circulation system. CONCLUSIONS This study provides a new insight into frequency and position of diabetes related diseases or symptoms in online medical services. It can show patients’ different attention by comparing disease or symptom categories for gender and age with ICD disease codes. The frequency and position of disease category words in patients’ conversation can be used for further risk evaluation for chronic diseases research.

scholarly journals System models for resilience in gerontology: application to the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Klasa ◽  
Stephanie Galaitsi ◽  
Andrew Wister ◽  
Igor Linkov
Keyword(s):  
The Elderly ◽  
System Level ◽  
Improve Quality ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Chronic Stressors ◽  
The World ◽  
Aging Adults ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThe care needs for aging adults are increasing burdens on health systems around the world. Efforts minimizing risk to improve quality of life and aging have proven moderately successful, but acute shocks and chronic stressors to an individual’s systemic physical and cognitive functions may accelerate their inevitable degradations. A framework for resilience to the challenges associated with aging is required to complement on-going risk reduction policies, programs and interventions. Studies measuring resilience among the elderly at the individual level have not produced a standard methodology. Moreover, resilience measurements need to incorporate external structural and system-level factors that determine the resources that adults can access while recovering from aging-related adversities. We use the National Academies of Science conceptualization of resilience for natural disasters to frame resilience for aging adults. This enables development of a generalized theory of resilience for different individual and structural contexts and populations, including a specific application to the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Examination of Construct Validity and Criterion-Related Validity of the German Motor Test in Egyptian Schoolchildren

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8341
Author(s):  
Osama Abdelkarim ◽  
Julian Fritsch ◽  
Darko Jekauc ◽  
Klaus Bös
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Body Height ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Latent Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
First Order ◽  
Motor Test ◽  
Health Related

Physical fitness is an indicator for children’s public health status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the construct validity and the criterion-related validity of the German motor test (GMT) in Egyptian schoolchildren. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 931 children aged 6 to 11 years (age: 9.1 ± 1.7 years) with 484 (52%) males and 447 (48%) females in grades one to five in Assiut city. The children’s physical fitness data were collected using GMT. GMT is designed to measure five health-related physical fitness components including speed, strength, coordination, endurance, and flexibility of children aged 6 to 18 years. The anthropometric data were collected based on three indicators: body height, body weight, and BMI. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with IBM SPSS AMOS 26.0 using full-information maximum likelihood. The results indicated an adequate fit (χ2 = 112.3, df = 20; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.956; RMSEA = 0.07). The χ2-statistic showed significant results, and the values for CFI and RMSEA showed a good fit. All loadings of the manifest variables on the first-order latent factors as well as loadings of the first-order latent factors on the second-order superordinate factor were significant. The results also showed strong construct validity in the components of conditioning abilities and moderate construct validity in the components of coordinative abilities. GMT proved to be a valid method and could be widely used on large-scale studies for health-related fitness monitoring in the Egyptian population.

scholarly journals Measuring Subjective Sleep Quality: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1082
Author(s):  
Marco Fabbri ◽  
Alessia Beracci ◽  
Monica Martoni ◽  
Debora Meneo ◽  
Lorenzo Tonetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Internal Consistency ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Measurement Properties ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Factorial Structure ◽  
Poor Sleep Quality

Sleep quality is an important clinical construct since it is increasingly common for people to complain about poor sleep quality and its impact on daytime functioning. Moreover, poor sleep quality can be an important symptom of many sleep and medical disorders. However, objective measures of sleep quality, such as polysomnography, are not readily available to most clinicians in their daily routine, and are expensive, time-consuming, and impractical for epidemiological and research studies., Several self-report questionnaires have, however, been developed. The present review aims to address their psychometric properties, construct validity, and factorial structure while presenting, comparing, and discussing the measurement properties of these sleep quality questionnaires. A systematic literature search, from 2008 to 2020, was performed using the electronic databases PubMed and Scopus, with predefined search terms. In total, 49 articles were analyzed from the 5734 articles found. The psychometric properties and factor structure of the following are reported: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Mini-Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ), Jenkins Sleep Scale (JSS), Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire (LSEQ), SLEEP-50 Questionnaire, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). As the most frequently used subjective measurement of sleep quality, the PSQI reported good internal reliability and validity; however, different factorial structures were found in a variety of samples, casting doubt on the usefulness of total score in detecting poor and good sleepers. The sleep disorder scales (AIS, ISI, MSQ, JSS, LSEQ and SLEEP-50) reported good psychometric properties; nevertheless, AIS and ISI reported a variety of factorial models whereas LSEQ and SLEEP-50 appeared to be less useful for epidemiological and research settings due to the length of the questionnaires and their scoring. The MSQ and JSS seemed to be inexpensive and easy to administer, complete, and score, but further validation studies are needed. Finally, the ESS had good internal consistency and construct validity, while the main challenges were in its factorial structure, known-group difference and estimation of reliable cut-offs. Overall, the self-report questionnaires assessing sleep quality from different perspectives have good psychometric properties, with high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as convergent/divergent validity with sleep, psychological, and socio-demographic variables. However, a clear definition of the factor model underlying the tools is recommended and reliable cut-off values should be indicated in order for clinicians to discriminate poor and good sleepers.

scholarly journals 229 Sleep-wake behavior, meal timings and digital media duration of Indians during COVID-19 Lockdown

SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A91-A92
Author(s):  
Babita Pande ◽  
Meenakshi Sinha ◽  
Ramanjan Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Sleep Duration ◽  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Therapeutic Management ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Delayed Sleep ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Introduction Lockdown and stay home order has been imposed on people in many countries including India to prevent the community transmission of COVID-19 pandemic. However this social restriction led to disturbed daily routine and lifestyle behaviour that is needed to be attended for proper therapeutic management of overall health during such crisis. The impact of lockdown on the most apparent behavioral changes viz. sleep-wake behaviour, major meal timings, and digital screen duration of Indians were investigated. In addition the effects of gender and age were explored. Methods After seeking permission from Ethical Institution, an online questionnaire based survey was circulated within India in the first week of May, 2020 for which total 1511 male and female (age ≥18 years) subjects participated. The sleep-wake behavior observed were sleep-wake timings, sleep duration, mid sleep time (MST) as function of lockdown, and social (lockdown) jetlag (SJL = MST before lockdown-MST during lockdown). Results The sleep onset-wakeup and meal times were significantly delayed during lockdown, which was more pronounced in younger age group. The sleep duration increased, specifically in young individuals during lockdown. Females showed more delayed sleep onset-waking times and first meal timing with longer sleep duration during lockdown. Increased digital media duration was observed in all age groups, primarily in males. The younger age group and specifically female reported higher SJL and delayed MST. A positive association was obtained between sleep duration & first meal time, and SJL & major meal timings/screen duration, and a significant negative relationship of sleep duration and SJL with age. Conclusion The study shows delayed sleep-wake schedule, meal timings and increased digital media duration among Indians during COVID-19 lockdown compared to before lockdown. Also, gender and age emerged as important mediating factors for this alteration. The pandemic has given opportunity to sleep more and compensate for the sleep. In spite of that, the higher social jetlag in young age group and female showed the compromised sleep and maladaption with societal timing. These findings have applied implications in sleep health during longer social isolation conditions and for proper therapeutic management. Support (if any) No

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