Biomedical subjects

Esko Leskinen

Publications and source records attributed to Esko Leskinen.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Resident care needs and work stressors in special care units versus non-specialized long-term care units.

Differences in how elderly residents' care needs affect staff's experiences of work stressors between special care units (SCUs) for dementia and psychiatric residents and non-SCUs were investigated. The data were drawn from 390 staff members in 38 long-term care SCUs, and 587 staff in 53 non-SCUs in Finland. Residents' care needs were based on the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) system measured by the Minimum Data Set 2.0. Work stressors (time-pressure and role-conflicts) were assessed with a staff survey questionnaire. Multiple-group regression analysis showed that residents' dependency in activities of daily living (ADL) was related to increased work stressors only in SCUs. A high proportion of behavioral problems was related to fewer work stressors for SCU staff, but more for non-SCU staff. Work stressors may be reduced by specializing, so that residents with similar care needs are placed together and care is focused.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Developmental dynamics between mathematical performance, task motivation, and teachers' goals during the transition to primary school.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that children's learning motivation and interest in a particular subject play an important role in their school performance, particularly in mathematics. However, few cross-lagged longitudinal studies have been carried out to investigate the prospective relationships between academic achievement and task motivation. Moreover, the role that the classroom context plays in this development is largely unknown. AIMS: The aim of the study was to investigate the developmental dynamics of maths-related motivation and mathematical performance during children's transition to primary school. The role of teachers' pedagogical goals and classroom characteristics on this development was also investigated. SAMPLE: A total of 196 Finnish children were examined four times: (0) in October during their preschool year; (1) in October and (2) April during their first grade of primary school; and (3) in October during their second grade. METHOD: Children's mathematical performance was tested at each measurement point. Task motivation was examined at measurement points 2, 3, and 4 using the Task-value scale for children. First-grade teachers were interviewed in November about their pedagogical goals and classroom characteristics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that children's mathematical performance and related task motivation formed a cumulative developmental cycle: a high level of maths performance at the beginning of the first grade increased subsequent task motivation towards mathematics, which further predicted a high level of maths performance at the beginning of the second grade. The level of maths-related task motivation increased in those classrooms where the teachers emphasized motivation or self-concept development as their most important pedagogical goal.

Child↗

PubMed2005

A cohort study found good respiratory, sensory and motor functions decreased mortality risk in older people.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The main aims of this study were to evaluate the separate and joint effects of respiratory, sensory, and psychomotor function, muscle strength, and mobility in predicting mortality in older men and women, and to find a way to control multicollinearity in a multivariate Cox regression model. METHODS: Mortality was followed for 10 years (1990-2000) in an entire cohort of 75-year-old residents of the city of Jyvaskyla, Finland (born in 1914; N=388). Cox regression models and principal component estimation were employed to study the association between the covariates and mortality. RESULTS: The study indicated that, after adjustment for fatal diseases and cognitive capacity, vital capacity, tapping rate, muscle strength, and walking speed predict mortality in elderly men and women to a similar extent. The hazard ratio for mortality for those in the lowest tertile of the principal component representing all the significant physiological functions was from three to four times higher than for those in the highest tertile. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that a poor level in any of the measured functions has a similar impact on the risk for mortality, which is further increased by combining the different results. No single, dominant predictor of mortality emerged.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

A note on alternative parameterizations of a model for evaluating agreement between two tests.

The agreement between two competing tests which purport to measure the same trait is a common concern in test development. In this paper three alternative parameterizations of the measurement model useful in this context are presented. Both one-factor and two-factor approaches are applied. Lord's classic example, where the main problem is to investigate whether time limits represent an extra speed component in a vocabulary test, is used to illustrate the ideas.

Humans↗

PubMed2002

Three methods for studying developmental change: a case of reading skills and self-concept.

AIMS: First, to introduce and compare three statistical methods for investigating development as a cumulative process: a simplex model, latent growth curve analysis, and clustering by cases. Second, to investigate the developmental dynamics of reading skills, and self-concept of reading ability, across the first year of primary school. SAMPLE: One hundred and five (61 boys, 44 girls) 6- to 7-year-old children from four first-grade classes in two primary schools participated in the study. METHOD: Children were studied three times during their first school year using an identical set of measurements: a Reading Skills Test and the Self-Concept of Ability scale. RESULTS: A uni-construct 'Matthew' effect was found for the development of self-concept, but not for the reading skills. However, the results showed that there was a multi-construct cumulative cycle between children's reading skills and their self-concept. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous use of variable- and person-oriented methods in developmental research seems to be a valuable approach, which not only provides a proper way to investigate the cumulative developmental cycles but also an option to examine how large a proportion of the sample follows the positive and negative pattern found in variable-oriented analyses.

Child↗