Testing the Reliability and Construct Validity of Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) in Non-Western Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients

The Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) is deemed the most appropriate instrument for assessing violence risks and management because of its balanced approach between dynamic risk and protective factors. Although several facets of reliability and predictive validity of this tool were strong, its inter-rater reliability, construct validity, and implementation in Asian population were under-investigated. The objective of this research was to examine the inter-rater reliability and construct validity of the START: Thai version within forensic psychiatric inpatients. The participants consisted of 118 forensic psychiatric inpatients hospitalized at Galya Rajanagarindra Institute in Thailand. Trained mental health professionals (i.e., psychiatrists, forensic nurses, clinical psychologists, social workers, and occupational therapists) assessed each participant across twenty domains of the Thai START. The inter-rater reliability was examined using the intraclass correlation coefficient and a confirmatory factor analysis for ordinal data was used to test the construct validity of the scale. The main finding showed a good-to-excellent inter-rater reliability and supported two relational constructs (i.e., strength vs vulnerability subscales) of the Thai START. The Thai START is a promising tool for using in Thai forensic psychiatric setting but some items were not significant in contributing to the scale. This study also provides the guideline for implementing the tool in non-Western forensic psychiatric populations.

Consumer Behavior Towards Purchase Intention of Seafood Processed Products in The Province of West Nusa Tenggara

This study aims to analyze the variables that influence purchasing decisions for processed marine products in the Province of West Nusa Tenggara. Determination of the number of respondents who will be the sample using the 10% Margin of Error (MOE) method with a total of 100 respondents consisting of several districts in West Nusa Tenggara Province. The analytical tool used in this research is Multiple Linear Regression to see the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The research was conducted using a Likert scale on each research variable with ordinal data and transformed into intervals using the Method Successive Interval (MSI), using the MS.excel application, while the Multiple Linear Regression data processing used the Stata application. The result of this research is that the consumer behavior of processed seafood in West Nusa Tenggara Province is slightly different from the conventional theory of consumer behavior, where the brand has a negative effect on purchasing decisions of 0.2129039 points, and convenience has a negative effect on purchasing decisions of 0.1199636 points. Meanwhile, price, packaging, promotion, benefits, and consumer traditions have a positive effect on purchase intention. Processed seafood products in West Nusa Tenggara Province have different consumer characteristics from other products in general.

Feasibility of an individualised, task-oriented, video-supported home exercise programme for arm function in patients in the subacute phase after stroke: protocol of a randomised controlled pilot study

IntroductionStroke rehabilitation guidelines suggest a high-frequency task-oriented training at high intensity. A targeted and self-paced daily training with intermittent supervision is recommended to improve patients’ self-management and functional output. So far, there is conflicting evidence concerning the most effective home-training delivery method.Methods and analysisThe purpose of this pilot study is to compare the feasibility and preliminary effects of task-oriented home-exercises in patients in the subacute stage after stroke. Twenty-four patients will be randomised (1:1) to a Video group (a) or Paper group (b) of an individualised, task-oriented home-training (50 min, 6×/week, for 4 weeks) based on Wulf and Lewthwaite’s Optimizing Performance Through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning theory of motor learning. Patient-relevant goals will be identified using Goal Attainment Scaling and exercises progressively adapted. Semistructured interviews and a logbook will be used to monitor adherence, arm use and acceptability. Primary outcome will be the feasibility of the methods and a full-scale trial employing predefined feasibility criteria (recruitment, retention and adherence rates, patients’ satisfaction with the home-exercise programme and their progress, affected hand use and acceptance of the intervention). Assessed at baseline, post intervention and 4-week follow-up, secondary outcomes include self-perceived hand and arm use, actual upper extremity function and dexterity, hand strength, independence in activities of daily living and health-related quality of life. Interview data will be analysed using qualitative content analysis. Medians (ranges) will be reported for ordinal data, means (SD) for continuous and frequency (percentage) for nominal data.Ethics and disseminationThis study follows the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials-Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) Extension guideline. Ethical approval was received from the Ethics Committee of the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria (1304/2020). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants prior to data collection. Study results will be disseminated to participating patients, patient organisations, via the clinic’s homepage, relevant conferences and peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberDRKS-ID: DRKS00023395.Study protocol, second revision, 5 December 2021.

Protocol for an exploratory, longitudinal single case study of a novel palliative care rehabilitative service

Background: Early access to rehabilitation can improve quality of life for those with life-limiting illnesses and is highlighted as a core component of the Adult Palliative Care Services Model of Care for Ireland. Despite this, palliative rehabilitation remains under-utilised and under-developed. In 2020, the Sláintecare Integration Fund provided opportunity to pilot a novel rehabilitative palliative care service, “Palliat Rehab”. This protocol proposes a case study, which aims to advance understanding of the form, content, and delivery of the pilot service. Methods: A prospective, longitudinal, mixed-methods, case study design will be used to describe the service and to explore the experiences of patients, informal carers and clinicians. Additionally, data collection instruments will be tested and the utility of outcome measures will be examined. Data will be collected from documentary, survey, and interview sources. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics, including chi-square tests for categorical variables, Mann-Whitney U tests for ordinal data, and t-tests/ ANOVA for continuous data. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis. Conclusions: New pathways are required to advance service provision to ensure that patients receive the ‘right care, in the right place, at the right time’. The development of ‘‘Palliat Rehab’’ offers opportunity to study an innovative service and consider its potential contribution to the achievement of Sláintecare goals. Investigating the service within its environmental context will lead to a better understanding of ‘how’ and ‘why’ things happen. Findings will be of value in assessing whether there is evidence that supports the service, and will be used to inform efforts to further develop and tailor the intervention.

Effects of Psychosocial Stress, Neuroticism Liability and Unhealthy Coping Strategies on the Physical and Mental Welfare of Pre-University Students in the National University of Malaysia

Stress is the body's response to changes that create taxing demands. Coping mechanism plays a significant part to overcome or reduce the stress experienced by individuals. The purpose of the study is to study the relationship between psychosocial stress, neuroticism liability and unhealthy coping strategies on the physical and mental welfare of pre-university students. One hundred and forty four pre-university students from the National University of Malaysia are included in this study. A quantitative study utilizing a cross sectional non-probability sampling research design is used to gather data. The data is collected using a questionnaire which analyzes three main aspects of this study namely, psychosocial stress, neuroticism liability and unhealthy coping mechanisms. The instruments used to measure psychosocial stress is the individual items of the University Students Stress Scale .The unhealthy coping strategies will be assessed by the Brief COPE Inventory through the ordinal data (individual survey items) obtained. However, neuroticism liability will be measured through the Eysenck Personality Inventory. The SPSS Statistics Data Editor Version 25 is used for statistical analysis. In conclusion, all three variables are correlated with each other. When a person experiences immense psychosocial stress, the person tends to inculcate more unhealthy coping strategies in daily lives and it may contribute to increasing neuroticism liability.

Scale length does matter: Recommendations for measurement invariance testing with categorical factor analysis and item response theory approaches

In social sciences, the study of group differences concerning latent constructs is ubiquitous. These constructs are generally measured by means of scales composed of ordinal items. In order to compare these constructs across groups, one crucial requirement is that they are measured equivalently or, in technical jargon, that measurement invariance (MI) holds across the groups. This study compared the performance of scale- and item-level approaches based on multiple group categorical confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CCFA) and multiple group item response theory (MG-IRT) in testing MI with ordinal data. In general, the results of the simulation studies showed that MG-CCFA-based approaches outperformed MG-IRT-based approaches when testing MI at the scale level, whereas, at the item level, the best performing approach depends on the tested parameter (i.e., loadings or thresholds). That is, when testing loadings equivalence, the likelihood ratio test provided the best trade-off between true-positive rate and false-positive rate, whereas, when testing thresholds equivalence, the χ2 test outperformed the other testing strategies. In addition, the performance of MG-CCFA’s fit measures, such as RMSEA and CFI, seemed to depend largely on the length of the scale, especially when MI was tested at the item level. General caution is recommended when using these measures, especially when MI is tested for each item individually.

Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure on the Basis of Survey Responses and Aggregated Ordinal Data

The paper addresses the problem of complex socio-economic phenomena assessment using questionnaire surveys. The data are represented on an ordinal scale; the object assessments may contain positive, negative, no answers, a “difficult to say” or “no opinion” answers. The general framework for Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure (IFSM) based on distances to the pattern object (ideal solution) is used to analyze the survey data. First, Euclidean and Hamming distances are applied in the procedure. Second, two pattern object constructions are proposed in the procedure: one based on maximum values from the survey data, and the second on maximum intuitionistic values. Third, the method for criteria comparison with the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure is presented. Finally, a case study solving the problem of rank-ordering of the cities in terms of satisfaction from local public administration obtained using different variants of the proposed method is discussed. Additionally, the comparative analysis results using the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure and the Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS (IFT) framework are presented.

A Bayesian Multilevel Ordinal Regression Model for Fish Maturity Data: Difference in Maturity Ogives of Skipjack Tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) Between Schools in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean

The maturity ogive is vital to defining the fraction of a population capable of reproduction. In this study, we proposed a novel approach, a Bayesian multilevel ordinal regression (i.e., Bayesian continuation ratio model), to model the maturity ogive. The model assumes that the observed maturity stage originates from the categorization of latent continuous variables. We demonstrated this approach by testing whether there are differences in the maturity ogive of skipjack tuna (Katsuonus pelamis) in the western and central Pacific Ocean between two school types, i.e., free-swimming and floating-object-associated schools. The model results show that K. pelamis, given the same fork length, are more likely to have a higher maturity stage in a free-swimming school than those associated with floating objects. The gonadosomatic index revealed the same conclusion. Our results indicate that fish aggregation devices (FADs) could negatively affect the maturity of K. pelamis and consequently reduce the population reproductive potential. This study provides (1) an alternative approach to analyze fisheries ordinal data; (2) important quantitative evidence to evaluate the existing ecological hypotheses; and (3) implications for tuna fisheries management.