The aims of this study were to record behavioral problems in children with epilepsy (CWE), compare the prevalence with that reported among healthy children without epilepsy, and investigate the risk factors. A child behavioral questionnaire for parents comprising 15 items was administered to the main caregiver of 108 CWE and ...

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate whether medical television dramas portray proper seizure first aid. Methods: Episodes of the four highest-rated US medical dramas ("Grey's Anatomy," "House M.D.", "Private Practice," and "ER") were screened for the presence of seizures. "Patient" age, sex, semiology, and etiology were recorded. ...

To investigate how a German audience appraises an American video-based decision aid on early stage breast cancer for potential use in Germany. A German synchronized voice-over version was produced and subject to different focus groups with patients (n=9), health care providers (n=7) and German health care experts (n=15) using an ...

Many studies which assess functioning in recovering problem drinkers are limited to early recovery within inpatient or detoxification settings, or focus on relapse rates and treatment outcomes. This study assesses how functioning varies according to recovery stage and abstinence duration. Fifty-three recovering problem drinkers participated from mutual aid groups or ...

Early hominids searched for dispersed food sources in a patchy, uncertain environment, and modern humans encounter equivalent spatial-temporal coordination problems on a daily basis. A fundamental, but untested assumption is that our evolved capacity for communication is integral to our success in such tasks, allowing information exchange and consensus decisions ...

Previous studies have shown that people with mild intellectual disabilities have difficulty in 'weighing-up' information, defined as integrating information from two different sources for the purpose of reaching a decision. This was demonstrated in two very different procedures, temporal discounting and a scenario-based financial decision-making task. In the present study, ...

One academically based breast cancer clinic implements decision and communication aids as part of routine clinical care. This quality improvement study aimed to expand reach of these supportive materials and services with budget-neutral program changes. We used program theory and continuous quality improvement to design changes to our program. We ...

through a descriptive study, we determined the factors that influence the decision-making process for allocating funds to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes, and the extent to which formal decision tools are used in the municipality of KwaDukuza, South Africa. we conducted 35 key informant interviews in KwaDukuza. The interview questions ...

Patient adherence to medication or lifestyle interventions is a serious concern. Interventions to improve adherence exist, but their effects are usually small. Several authors suggested that decision aids may positively affect adherence. . This presentation examines the role of decision aids in adherence research through development of a model and ...

OBJECTIVE: Shared decision-making and the use of decision aids are increasingly promoted in various healthcare settings. The extent of their current use and potential in rehabilitation medicine is unknown. The aim of the present study was to explore the barriers to and facilitators of shared decision-making and use of decision ...

An optimization method could aid agricultural decision making by balancing societal desire(s) with resource management.

People with poor access to medical care are more likely to smoke but are less likely to receive nicotine dependence treatment. To assess preliminary outcomes of a computer-based, bilingual smoking cessation decision-aid to facilitate utilization of resources. A computer kiosk with a smoking cessation decision-aid was integrated at three safety-net ...

The results of clinical trials are often presented in a way that only highlights either the benefits or the risks of the treatment under study. Especially in older age, clinical psychiatric problems are often of complex nature, which requires integrating multiple sources of data to reach clinical decisions. An analytical, ...

There is an ever-growing trend toward more patient involvement in making health care decisions. This trend has been accompanied by the development of "informed decision-making" interventions to help patients become more engaged and comfortable with making these decisions. We describe the effects of a prostate cancer screening decision aid on ...

Contrary to what common sense makes us believe, deliberation without attention has recently been suggested to produce better decisions in complex situations than deliberation with attention. Based on differences between cognitive processes of experts and novices, we hypothesized that experts make in fact better decisions after consciously thinking about complex ...

PURPOSE: Patient decision aids are interventions designed to help patients make deliberative choices about their treatment options and have been shown to significantly improve patient outcomes. Although considered optimal, decision aids are not widely used in clinical practice for cancer treatment. The objectives of this study are to determine physicians' ...

This commentary argues that the existing approach towards obtaining informed consent for clinical research may be improved by using decision aids. Problems with the current approach include i) an emphasis on documentation to the detriment of good quality decision-making; ii) ad hoc rather than theory-based research studying how to improve ...

Physicians are reluctant to use decision aids despite their ability to improve care. A potential reason may be that physicians do not believe decision aid advice. To determine whether internal medicine residents lend more credence to contradictory decision aid or human advice. Randomized controlled trial. Residents read a scenario of ...

Deciding whether to use intravenous fibrinolytic therapy for acute cerebral ischemia within 3 hours of onset is challenging for patients, family members, and health care providers. Visual displays can permit individuals to rapidly understand response patterns to therapy. This study sought to evaluate, refine, and improve existing visual aids for ...

This chapter gives an educational overview of: * Evidence for the benefits of CDSS; * Categories of CDSS including user and workflow requirements; * A framework for the implementation of CDSS, including human factors and the problem of free text; * a framework for the evaluation of CDSS.

To determine whether a decision aid designed for adults with low education and literacy can support informed choice and involvement in decisions about screening for bowel cancer. Randomised controlled trial. Areas in New South Wales, Australia identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged (low education attainment, high unemployment, and unskilled occupations). 572 adults ...

During a three-month study period, visitors to an online decision aid (DA) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were invited to complete an online questionnaire before and after working through the DA. Some 75,000 unique visitors found their way to the page on DAs, although fewer than 1 in 10 ...

A multitude of decisions must be made when performing restorative dentistry, particularly full-arch restorative dentistry. The likelihood of making the correct decision can be improved if the dentist attends appropriate high-quality continuing education, reads refereed literature, works with an experienced mentor, and has some personal experience with this type of ...

BACKGROUND: Most women use some method of pain relief during labour. There is extensive research evidence available of pharmacological pain relief during labour; however this evidence is not readily available to pregnant women. Decision aids are tools that present evidence based information and allow preference elicitation. METHODS: We developed a ...

BACKGROUND: Web-based decision aids are known to have an effect on knowledge, attitude, and behavior; important components of informed decision making. We know what decision aids achieve in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), but we still know very little about how they are used and how this relates to the informed ...

A computerized safety decision aid was developed and tested with Spanish or English-speaking abused women in shelters or domestic violence (DV) support groups (n = 90). The decision aid provides feedback about risk for lethal violence, options for safety, assistance with setting priorities for safety, and a safety plan personalized ...

To assess the impact of a decision aid on perceived risk of heart attacks and medication adherence among urban primary care patients with diabetes. We randomly allocated 150 patients with diabetes to participate in a usual primary care visit either with or without the Statin Choice tool. Participants completed a ...

The problem of defining a decision rule which takes into account performance constraints and class-selective rejection is formalized in a general framework. In the proposed formulation, the problem is defined using three kinds of criteria. The first is the cost to be minimized, which defines the objective function, the second ...

To develop and evaluate a decision aid related to CPR decision-making for hospitalized patients. The development of the decision aid was guided by published recommendations; physicians, nurses, and a clinical ethicist were involved in the process. In-patients over age 55 with serious illnesses and their family were involved in pre-testing ...

Problem formulation is the first step in environmental risk assessment (ERA) where policy goals, scope, assessment endpoints, and methodology are distilled to an explicitly stated problem and approach for analysis. The consistency and utility of ERAs for genetically modified (GM) plants can be improved through rigorous problem formulation (PF), producing ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of an audio-guided component: an audio-guided decision aid vs. a stand-alone booklet decision aid. BACKGROUND: Despite extensive evaluation of decision aids in clinical settings the presentation style has not been properly assessed, and audio-guided decision aids are widely used although not supported by evidence-based research. ...

RATIONALE: We developed an evidence-based decision aid for patients with advanced cystic fibrosis considering referral for lung transplantation. OBJECTIVES: To prospectively evaluate whether use of the decision aid increased knowledge about the options, improved realistic expectations, and decreased decisional conflict in adult patients. METHODS: We performed a single-blind randomized controlled ...

BACKGROUND: Statin Choice is a decision aid about taking statins. The optimal mode of delivering Statin Choice (or any other decision aid) in clinical practice is unknown. METHODS: To investigate the effect of mode of delivery on decision aid efficacy, the authors further explored the results of a concealed 2 ...

OBJECTIVE: To explore healthcare professionals' views about decision aids, developed by the DiAMOND study group, for women choosing mode of delivery after a previous caesarean section. DESIGN/METHODS: A qualitative focus group study. Data were analysed thematically. SETTING: Two city maternity units, surrounding community midwife units and general practitioner (GP) practices ...

BACKGROUND: The U.S. Community Guide to Preventive Services strongly recommends changes in urban design, land use, and accessibility to increase physical activity. To achieve these goals, policy change is often needed. This study assessed attitudes of decision makers in Hawaii to determine if physical activity-related issues are among their priorities. ...

OBJECTIVE: To obtain the views of women on their experiences of decision making about the method of delivery following a previous caesarean section and the role of decision aids in this process. DESIGN: Qualitative study nested within a randomised controlled trial, using repeat semi-structured interviews conducted pre- and postnatally. Data ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe how clinicians use decision aids. BACKGROUND: A 98-patient factorial-design randomized trial of the Statin Choice decision vs. standard educational pamphlet; each participant had a 1:4 chance of receiving the decision aid during the encounter with the clinician resulting in 22 eligible encounters. DESIGN: Two researchers working independently ...

A method of making long (cm) Pt nanowires of a few nanometers diameter from electrospinning is described. A major problem of avoiding bead formation along the nanofibers is analyzed, and the conditions under which the bead formation is minimized are investigated. Our ultimate purpose is to make free-standing fuel cell ...

Principlism aims to provide a framework to help those working in medicine both to identify moral problems and to make decisions about what to do. For it to meet this aim, the principles included within it must express values that all morally serious people share (or ought to share), and ...

In this paper, we attempt to explain the underlying strategic incentives confronting individuals when they must make a collective decision over a set of alternatives and each has information that is decision-relevant for others. A significant literature has emerged in formal political theory over the past several years that focuses ...

OBJECTIVE: Several countries have recently implemented national bowel cancer screening programs. To ensure equal access to screening, information is needed to suit adults ranging in literacy level. Decision aids are effective in providing balanced information and have been applied in screening. However, few have been designed for populations with lower ...

This paper gives an account of the global evolution of (neuro-)chemistry in epileptology with an emphasis on the role of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), which declared in its constitution a mission "to make the epilepsy-problem the object of special study and to make practical use of the results ...

This article deals with the problem of euthanasia, a topic of recent interest, namely the rights of minors to make their own decision regarding to euthanasia. In fact the problem of decisions on euthanasia has always been considered an adult interest while leaving the will of minors in the hands ...

Decision aids prepare people to participate in 'close call' decisions that involve weighing benefits, harms, and scientific uncertainty. To conduct a systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of decision aids for people facing difficult treatment or screening decisions. We searched MEDLINE (Ovid) (1966 to July 2006); ...

Although increasing use of compliance aids is resulting in improved clinical outcomes for patients, the stability of some drugs being repackaged into these aids is being questioned. This is due to the fact that despite their widespread use, there is limited availability of relevant stability data. This review presents clinical ...

The Non-Identity Problem is the problem of explaining the apparent wrongness of a decision that does not harm people, especially since some of the people affected by the decision would not exist at all were it not for the decision. One approach to this problem, in the context of reproductive ...

BACKGROUND: This study compares prevalence and types of medical end-of-life decisions between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities of Belgium. This is the first nationwide study that can make these comparisons and the first measurement after implementation of the euthanasia law (2002). METHODS: We performed a mortality follow-back study in 2005-2006. ...

Aims: Development and testing of a decision aid about prevention of myocardial infarction for persons with type 2 diabetes.Methods: Development and testing were guided by the UK Medical Research Council's guidance for the development and evaluation of complex interventions. This comprised a systematic literature review, a focus group of 9 ...

OBJECTIVE: An empirical investigation was done to determine if there are age-related differences attributable to costs in reliance on a decision aid. BACKGROUND: Costs of reliance on a decision aid may affect reliance on the aid. Older and younger adults may not perceive and respond to a dynamic cost structure ...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a new decision aid to improve restorative treatment decision making for proximal caries from bitewing radiographs. METHODS: Dental teachers involved in patient treatment and clinical caries diagnosis (n = 31) viewed a computerized decision aid. Whilst using the aid, measures of the teachers' diagnostic and treatment accuracy, ...