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Biomedical subjects

L Duran

Publications and source records attributed to L Duran.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The alternate forms reliability of the new tasks added to the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the alternate forms reliability of new tasks vs. old tasks of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). The participants in this study were 44 persons taken from the AMPS database who had completed two old tasks and two new tasks within a 4-day period. Paired t tests revealed no significant difference between the means of ADL ability measures based on the performance of new vs. old tasks. The Pearson product moment correlations between the ADL ability measures based on the performance of new vs. old tasks was r =.92, p <.001 for motor ability measures and r =.77, p <.001 for process ability measures. We found that 100% of the ADL motor ability measures had standardized differences less than 2.00 (p <.05) and 97% of the ADL process ability measures had standardized differences less than 2.00 (p <.05). Considered together, the results support good alternate forms reliability of the ADL motor and ADL process ability measures. This study supported the finding that the 20 newly calibrated IADL and PADL tasks can be used reliably in clinical practice. When the AMPS is used to evaluate change, we can have 80 to 93% confidence that paired ability measures that change by more than +0.5 logits are the result of actual changes in ability.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1987

Gallstones: a comparison of real-time ultrasonography and cholecystography with surgical correlation.

Real-time ultrasonography is more accurate and technically more efficient than gray scale ultrasonography in establishing the diagnosis of cholecystolithiasis. In prospective studies accuracy may be as high as 96%, and reflects the use of specific sonographic diagnostic criteria. Retrospective studies, however, reveal a lower accuracy rate of 90%, suggesting that practicing radiologists are not ready to accept these restricting criteria. On the other hand, oral cholecystography (OCG) is well tolerated and gives a reproducible, reliable result independent of technical expertise. It is 96% accurate in detecting the presence of gallstones and carries a sensitivity of .97. Both studies are prone to overinterpretation, which skews specificity and adversely affects diagnostic accuracy. In this retrospective review of 234 consecutive cases of cholecystectomy, real-time ultrasound was 90% accurate with a sensitivity of .96 in determining the presence of cholecystolithiasis. Oral cholecystography was 95% accurate with a sensitivity of .97.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

ADL performance of black Americans and white Americans on the assessment of motor and process skills.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS), an assessment of personal and domestic activities of daily living (ADL) performance, can be used as a valid, nonbiased tool when assessing black Americans. METHOD: The participants were 466 blacks and 466 whites drawn from the entire sample of blacks and whites contained in the AMPS database who met the following criteria: (a) were 16 years of age and older; (b) had a notable history of a neurological, musculoskeletal, medical, developmental, cognitive, or psychiatric disorders or were healthy older persons; and (c) resided in North America. The participants were matched according to functional level, gender, diagnosis, and age. Examination for bias included between-group comparison of (a) item difficulty and task challenge hierarchies of the AMPS, (b) goodness-of-fit of the participants to the many-faceted Rasch (MFR) model, and (c) mean ADL motor and ADL process abilities. RESULTS: Both the item difficulty and the task challenge hierarchies remained stable between the two groups. On the ADL Motor scale, 95.3% of the black participants and 92.4% of the white participants demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit (MS < or = 1.4, z < 2) to the MFR model. On the ADL Process scale, 91.2% of the black participants and 90.1% of the white participants demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit. A significant difference, t(2, 930) = 3.56, p < .01, between the two groups was found in mean ADL process ability, but no significant difference, t(2, 930) = .69, p = .49) was found in mean ADL motor ability. CONCLUSION: The results of this study support the validity of the AMPS when applied to black Americans.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The validity of adding new tasks to the assessment of motor and process skills.

OBJECTIVE: Twenty-one new activities of daily living (ADL) tasks were evaluated for the validity of their inclusion into the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). METHOD: Data from 1,484 participants who performed at least one new AMPS task were analyzed to determine whether the new tasks (a) fit the AMPS many-faceted Rasch (MFR) model and (b) increase the range of the AMPS motor and process skill scales. RESULTS: Twenty of the 21 new tasks fit the MFR model. The AMPS motor scale was increased by .25 logit at the easier end of the scale and by .30 logit at the more difficult end of the scale. The AMPS process scale was increased by .14 logit at the easier end of the scale. The more difficult end of the AMPS process scale did not increase. CONCLUSION: These findings support the validity of adding 20 new tasks into the AMPS. The new tasks provide the following benefits for testing clients whose ADL ability levels are at the lower or higher ends of the AMPS motor or process skill scales: (a) potential for less error when estimating the ADL ability measures, (b) more task choices, and (c) more face-valid tasks for testing men.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Designing primary health care teams for developing countries.

A time-honored industrial engineering technique, job evaluation, which was developed to set rates for manual labor, was used in the design of new teams for delivering primary health care in Latin America. The technique was used both in writing job descriptions for new allied health personnel and in designing the curriculums needed to train the personnel.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Facial cellulitis associated with fowl cholera in commercial turkeys.

Severe cephalic swelling and facial cellulitis in turkeys associated with fowl cholera were present in seven accessions submitted to two laboratories in a 2-year period. Flocks ranged in age from 6 to 18 weeks and included both toms and hens. Interestingly, turkeys with facial cellulitis had no gross internal lesions of fowl cholera, whereas birds with gross lung, liver, and air-sac lesions did not have swollen heads. Histologically, the facial cellulitis was characterized by extensive fibrinonecrotic inflammation of the deep dermis with heterophilic perivasculitis and thrombosis. Additional characterization of Pasteurella multocida isolates from these cases was conducted retrospectively from lyophilized cultures. Serogrouping, serotyping, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for dermonecrotic factor were performed. All isolates were serogroup A or unencapsulated. Serotype 1 was the most prevalent serotype isolated in association with facial cellulitis. ELISA results for dermonecrotic toxin were inconclusive.

Animals↗