PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E J Gracely

Publications and source records attributed to E J Gracely.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

A randomized trial to evaluate a computer-based learning program in occupational lung disease.

Computer based learning (CBL) is a recent educational innovation that may supplement the limited formal education typically offered to medical students in occupational health-related issues. The authors conducted a randomized trial among sophomores to evaluate a Macintosh-based application on occupational lung disease (OH-CBL). The program emphasizes interactive learning and skills practice through a case-based approach. Students taking an OH block in the Preventive Medicine course were assigned either to the OH-CBL or to the lecture group. 35 students completed the OH-CBL; 45 attended the lecture. Of four study-relevant multiple-choice questions, substantial differences were found in favor of the OH-CBL group over the lecture group on one question as well as on the study-relevant multiple choice total score. There was no difference on mean overall grade or on the three study-relevant essay items. The grade on study-relevant questions exhibited a weak relationship with microcomputer experience (r = .29, P = .04). Students' ratings of the CBL program using Likert scales were generally favorable. These findings suggest that CBL programs can be designed to be both acceptable to students and educationally effective. Each new program needs to be individually assessed to meet these standards. The authors identify several components of CBL that are necessary for successful implementation into a medical curriculum.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed1990

Lack of association between medication use and the presence or absence of bacteriuria in elderly women.

This study was undertaken to determine if there is an association between medication use and the presence or absence of bacteriuria in elderly ambulatory women. Of 198 women who participated in three urine culture surveys (every 6 months) during the 18-month study period, 66 (34.4%) had bacteriuria on at least one survey. Both univariate and multivariate analyses for the demographics, age, place of residence, and medication use (by drug class) revealed that only place of residence had a significant association with the presence or absence of bacteriuria. In this regard, bacteriuric subjects more commonly resided in the nursing home and less commonly lived in the apartment-house complex compared with nonbacteriuric subjects (P less than .05). Therefore, this study demonstrates that in elderly ambulatory women, medication use does not appear to be associated with the presence or absence of bacteriuria.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Selecting a rating scale for evaluating services to the chronically mentally ill.

A multi-attribute utility analysis employing ideal outcome measure criteria was applied to seven brief rating scales in order to identify the best performing instrument. A variety of judgmental data were collected from therapists working in mental health service agencies and from evaluation research experts to contrast the performance of the seven rating scales on criteria for selecting outcome measures developed by an NIMH task force. Transformations of the performance data were weighted in accordance with priorities assigned to the criteria by the task force. Comparing the sums of the weighted scores across scales, two rating scales emerged as preferred selections for monitoring the effectiveness of programs that serve the chronically mentally ill.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1987

Impact of multiple comparisons in randomized clinical trials.

The randomized clinical trial is the preferred research design for evaluating competing diagnostic and therapeutic alternatives, but confidence in the conclusions from a randomized clinical trial depends on the authors' attention to acknowledged methodologic and statistical standards. This survey assessed the level of attention to the problem of multiple comparisons in the analyses of contemporary randomized clinical trials. Of the 67 trials surveyed, 66 (99 percent) performed multiple comparisons with a mean of 30 therapeutic comparisons per trial. When criteria for statistical impairment were applied, 50 trials (75 percent) had the statistical significance of at least one comparison impaired by the problem of multiple comparisons, and 15 (22 percent) had the statistical significance of all comparisons impaired by the problem of multiple comparisons. Although some statistical techniques are available, there still exists a great need for future work to clarify further the problem of multiple comparisons and determine how the impact of this problem can best be minimized in subsequent research.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗