Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dynamics: Age and Gender-based Analysis of Surveillance Variables

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan and is later declared as a pandemic by World Health Organization. Different-aged people have varying gender-wise immunity control properties that necessitates understanding COVID-19 impact on age and gender which does not exist, currently. In this paper, COVID-19 surveillance variables are extensively studied along with hospitalization, tests-performed, and recovery data. Dataset is curated from three sources; however, age and gender data belong to Belgium, particularly. Visualizations, frequencies, Pearson’s and polyserial correlation, student’s t-test, and Cramer’s V are used for enhanced analysis. Results show higher mortality rate in males and need of more ventilators to combat severe symptoms.

Transferability of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 in elderly people with physical disabilities

Purpose The present study aimed to verify the reliability and validity of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 (APO-15) in elderly individuals with physical disabilities in health science. Methods The study sample comprised 761 elderly individuals with physical disabilities residing in community dwellings, hospitals, and group homes. They completed the APO-15 and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) evaluations. We analyzed the psychometric properties of the APO-15, polyserial correlation coefficient, and average extracted variance, which included a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), entropy, Cronbach’s α coefficient, Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient, item response theory (IRT), cut-off point, and latent rank values. Results The study outcome supported the APO-15, a 15-item, 4-factor model incorporating positive relationships, achievement, meaning, and engagement. The validity of this model was supported by various results; for example, each item score of polyserial correlation coefficient and entropy of APO-15 was the reference value was confirmed as being higher. The structural validity of APO-15 was assessed by CFA, which indicated a good model fit. Hypothesis testing revealed good values for the convergent and discriminant validity of the APO-15, and Cronbach’s α coefficient analysis revealed acceptable internal consistency. These results showed that the 4-factor structure of APO-15, which assumes has been established. Cut-off points for APO-15 of 51-point sensitivity (0.512) and specificity (0.704) yielded good results. The latent rank theory of APO-15 exhibited a good fit in all four rank values. The item reference profile suggested that an effective occupation promotes well-being. Conclusion The APO-15 exhibited good psychometric properties with respect to measuring positive occupations in individuals, including elderly individuals, with physical disabilities. This important tool will facilitate participation in occupations that promote daily well-being.

Transferability of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 in elderly people with physical disabilities

Purpose The present study aimed to verify the reliability and validity of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 (APO-15) in elderly individuals with physical disabilities in health science. Methods The study sample comprised 761 elderly individuals with physical disabilities residing in community dwellings, hospitals, and group homes. They completed the APO-15 and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) evaluations. We analyzed the psychometric properties of the APO-15, polyserial correlation coefficient, and average extracted variance, which included a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), entropy, Cronbach’s α coefficient, Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient, item response theory (IRT), cut-off point, and latent rank values. Results The study outcome supported the APO-15, a 15-item, 4-factor model incorporating positive relationships, achievement, meaning, and engagement. The validity of this model was supported by various results; for example, each item score of polyserial correlation coefficient and entropy of APO-15 was the reference value was confirmed as being higher. The structural validity of APO-15 was assessed by CFA, which indicated a good model fit. Hypothesis testing revealed good values for the convergent and discriminant validity of the APO-15, and Cronbach’s α coefficient analysis revealed acceptable internal consistency. These results showed that the 4-factor structure of APO-15, which assumes has been established. Cut-off points for APO-15 of 51-point sensitivity (0.512) and specificity (0.704) yielded good results. The latent rank theory of APO-15 exhibited a good fit in all four rank values. The item reference profile suggested that an effective occupation promotes well-being. Conclusion The APO-15 exhibited good psychometric properties with respect to measuring positive occupations in individuals, including elderly individuals, with physical disabilities. This important tool will facilitate participation in occupations that promote daily well-being.

Psychometric properties of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 final version in individuals with mental disabilities

Purpose: To verify the reliability and validity of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 (APO-15) in individuals with mental disabilities living in communities or admitted in hospitals. Methods: A sample of 408 individuals with mental disabilities completed APO-15, the Japanese version of the Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS), the Japanese version of the Self-identified Stage of Recovery Part-B (SISR-B), and the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12). We analyzed the psychometric properties of APO-15, including confirmatory factor analysis, entropy, polyserial correlation coefficient, average variance extracted, Cronbach’s α coefficient, Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient, item response theory, and cut-off point. Results: This study indicated the validity and reliability of APO-15 in a group of individuals with mental disabilities. The result of this study supported a four-factor model constructing of 15 items; includes a positive relationship, achievement, meaning, and engagement. Validity was supported by various results, i.e. the polyserial correlation and entropy were good, confirmatory factor analysis was a good estimate of the model fit, hypothesis testing was good convergent and discriminant validity, and concurrent validity also good. In addition, reliability was established by various analyses, i.e. the internal consistency reliability was good, and all items of APO-15 demonstrated satisfactory item response. The cut-off point became a 42-point sensitivity (0.770) and demonstrated good results with 1-specificity (0.441). That is, APO-15 can be used to appropriately measure the participation in occupation to promote the well-being of clients. Conclusion: APO-15 demonstrated good psychometric properties in measuring positive occupation in individuals with mental disabilities. APO-15 is an important tool to enable participation in activities that increase well-being in daily living.

Psychometric properties of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 final version in individuals with mental disabilities

Purpose: To verify the reliability and validity of the Assessment of Positive Occupation 15 (APO-15) in individuals with mental disabilities living in communities or admitted in hospitals. Methods: A sample of 408 individuals with mental disabilities completed APO-15, the Japanese version of the Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS), the Japanese version of the Self-identified Stage of Recovery Part-B (SISR-B), and the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12). We analyzed the psychometric properties of APO-15, including confirmatory factor analysis, entropy, polyserial correlation coefficient, average variance extracted, Cronbach’s α coefficient, Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient, item response theory, and cut-off point. Results: This study indicated the validity and reliability of APO-15 in a group of individuals with mental disabilities. The result of this study supported a four-factor model constructing of 15 items; includes a positive relationship, achievement, meaning, and engagement. Validity was supported by various results, i.e. the polyserial correlation and entropy were good, confirmatory factor analysis was a good estimate of the model fit, hypothesis testing was good convergent and discriminant validity, and concurrent validity also good. In addition, reliability was established by various analyses, i.e. the internal consistency reliability was good, and all items of APO-15 demonstrated satisfactory item response. The cut-off point became a 42-point sensitivity (0.770) and demonstrated good results with 1-specificity (0.441). That is, APO-15 can be used to appropriately measure the participation in occupation to promote the well-being of clients. Conclusion: APO-15 demonstrated good psychometric properties in measuring positive occupation in individuals with mental disabilities. APO-15 is an important tool to enable participation in activities that increase well-being in daily living.

Areal sizes of high, intermediate, low and total suitable habitats are correlated to the global extinction risk for mammals

The relationships between areal sizes of high, intermediate, low, and total sum of habitats with low, intermediate and high suitability habitat ranges, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threatened status of global terrestrial mammals were studied. Polyserial correlation analysis showed that all types of areal size closely and positively correlated with IUCN categories of threatened species. The results indicate that area-based extinction risk assessment is feasible and reliable in species? conservation prioritization. Furthermore, the partial polyserial correlation test indicates that significant correlations between the IUCN threatened status of species and range sizes of high, intermediate and low suitability habitats are not influenced by the polyserial correlation between IUCN threatened status and total suitability habitat range size. Thus, the prediction of species? extinction risks can be accurately fulfilled by evaluating the areal size of any one of total, high, intermediate or low suitability ranges. The present study implies that if the area size information of a totally suitable range is not available for species? extinction risk assessment, the usage of areal sizes from any parts of suitable habitats (high, intermediate or low) are effective surrogates.