1,721,043 research outputs found
An epidemiological study on the relationship between quality and quantity of social networks and chronic pain in older adults using data from the MOBILIZE Boston Study
Full text linkIntroduction: Pain is experienced amongst all ages of people. However, the pattern of its occurrence in older people is still not well understood. Existing evidence indicates that older adults are more susceptible to pain than other age groups. Moreover, the older adult population is now the fastest growing in the developed world, due to an increased life expectancy that is predicted to continue rising. There is evidence to suggest that social networks have a beneficial effect on the health and functional abilities of older people. Social networks, the support they provide, and engagement in social activities has been found to exert significant positive effects on the health and general functioning of older persons. In contrast, there is increasing evidence that socially isolated individuals have an increased risk of developing chronic conditions such as depression and impaired cognitive functions. It is therefore important that years lived are accompanied by a highly functional state of health. Understanding how this is achieved would have both individual and societal benefits, putting less economic burden on health care organisations and governments around the world.
Aim, objectives, and study hypothesis: This study aimed to explore if there is an association between social networks, social activities and chronic pain in community dwelling older adults. This was achieved by two overarching objectives, firstly by
reviewing the literature to identify if social networks play a protective role on pain outcomes in older community dwelling people; and secondly by analysing an existing dataset (the Mobilize Boston Study) that offered data on pain at baseline and at 18-months follow-up, along with data on structural social networks and social activity measures. It was hypothesised that the Mobilize Boston Study dataset would demonstrate social network and activity to be protective against pain outcomes (severity and interference).
Methods: Firstly, a review of literature was conducted and the included studies were analysed and synthesised using a narrative synthesis. Secondly, a secondary data analysis on self-reported measures of structural social networks, social activity and pain outcomes from the Mobilize Boston Study dataset, a prospective cohort study of 749 older adults aged 70 years and over, was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise the cohort at baseline. Chi-square statistics were conducted to categorise baseline cohort characteristics according to each social network and activity measure. Hierarchical regression models were run on baseline measures of social networks and activity, and pain outcomes, accounting for potential confounding covariates (e.g., socio-demographic and health factors). Longitudinal analysis using social networks and activity measures at baseline to predict pain outcomes at 18-months follow up was also conducted.
Results: The findings from the literature review concluded that social activity was related to better pain outcomes in older adults, however measures of perceived social support or structural social networks did not influence pain outcomes. The secondary data analysis demonstrated that the quantity of social networks did not play a role in predicting pain outcomes, whereas the social activity scores independently predicted lowered pain interference with daily activities, even after adjusting for potential
confounding factors such as age, sex, race, education, difficulty in mobility, and depression. For pain severity, neither quantity of social networks nor social activity scores demonstrated any significant associations. The relationship between baseline social network and social activity scores with pain interference and severity outcomes over 18 months did not generate statistical significance after accounting for health factors.
Conclusions: The results concluded that higher social activity predicts lower concurrent pain interference, but there was no evidence for the role of social networks on pain outcomes. Health variables such as depression were strongly related to pain
and significantly confounded the relationship between social networks and pain outcomes, both in severity and interference. This suggests that future research on pain should focus on qualitative aspects of social networks and pain in older adults, and in particular on older individuals free from depression. Aspects of social activity that make it protective for pain interference such as that defined by physical activity should be investigated further to confirm the findings of this research; nonpharmacological interventions designed to improve pain interference should focus on older adult’s social and physical activity
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Difference matters: A placement in a Christian hospital in Uganda taught Sharon-Marie Weldon about respecting diversity
No full textI travelled extensively before beginning my nursing career, so when an opportunity arose to do one of my nursing placements abroad, I took it
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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