Search

Purpose: Physical therapists (PTs) have a unique opportunity to intervene in the area of health promotion. However, no instrument has been validated to measure PTs’ views on health promotion in physical therapy practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content validity and testretest reliability of a health promotion survey designed for PTs. Methods: An expert panel of PTs assessed the content validity of “The Role of Health Promotion in Physical Therapy Survey” and provided suggestions for revision. Item content validity was assessed using the content validity ratio (CVR) as well as the modified kappa statistic. Therapists then participated in the test-retest reliability assessment of the revised health promotion survey, which was assessed using a weighted kappa statistic. Results: Based on feedback from the expert panelists, significant revisions were made to the original survey. The expert panel reached at least a majority consensus agreement for all items in the revised survey and the survey-CVR improved from 0.44 to 0.66. Only one item on the revised survey had substantial testretest agreement, with 55% of the items having moderate agreement and 43% poor agreement. Conclusions: All items on the revised health promotion survey demonstrated at least fair validity, but few items had reasonable testretest reliability. Further modifications should be made to strengthen the validity and improve the reliability of this survey.

BACKGROUND Studies have demonstrated that African American race is a strong predictor of nondonation. However, it is often and correctly argued that African American race is a crude explanatory variable that is a surrogate marker of socioeconomic status, education, and access to health care. We hypothesized that, when controlling for these factors, African American race would cease to be a predictor of organ donation. METHODS A retrospective review of 1292 Alabama decedents who were approached for organ donation between 2006 and 2009 was performed. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to identify the most parsimonious model that could explain the variation in the log odds of obtaining consent. RESULTS Consent for donation was obtained from 49% of the decedents' families. Household income was a predictor of organ donor consent only in whites. Surprisingly, household income was not statistically different between consented and nonconsented African American decedents (U.S. $25,147 vs. U.S. $26,137, P=0.90). On multivariable analysis, education, urban residence, and shorter distance between the decedent's residence and donor hospital were significantly associated with obtaining consent for organ donation. On univariate analysis, the odds ratio of donor consent in whites compared with African Americans was 2.76 (95% confidence interval, 2.17-3.57). When controlling for socioeconomic status and access to health care variables, the odds ratio of donor consent increased to 4.36 (95% confidence interval, 2.88-6.61). CONCLUSIONS We interpret this result to indicate that there remains unknown but important factor(s) associated with both race and obtaining organ donor consent. Further studies are required to isolate and determine whether this factor(s) is modifiable.

Objective Knowledge in reproductive endocrinology and infertility is fundamental to the delivery of quality women's health care. In 1991, the American Fertility Society formed a resident education committee to gather data on the current status of reproductive endocrinology and infertility training and develop an ideal curriculum. Methods Program directors and reproductive endocrinology and infertility faculty from 288 residencies in obstetrics and gynecology were surveyed about training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility; 257 (89%) of the program directors (survey I) and 203 (82%) of the reproductive endocrinology and infertility faculty (survey II) responded. An ideal curriculum has been developed from consensus discussions, review of survey data, and polling of experienced educators. The curriculum was reviewed and approved by the board of directors of both the Society for Reproductive Endocrinologists and the American Fertility Society. Results The curriculum is divided into subject matter and therapeutics, which are prioritized into three levels of knowledge: critical core curriculum, less critical material, and material with which residents should have familiarity and general knowledge. In addition, other recommendations and suggestions are made regarding the number of rotations, duration of rotations, and teaching methods. Conclusion The ideal curriculum may serve as a guide to assist program directors in the formulation of the most effective residency training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. The curriculum can help prioritize what should be taught and where an emphasis can be placed. There is not enough time or resources to teach residents all aspects of reproductive endocrinology and infertility.

Poor adherence to recommended regimens is a substantial problem in the clinical management of adults with asthma and other chronic diseases. Research on adherence assessment is complicated by methodological difficulties including limitations associated with the use of self-report measures. In this study, psychometric techniques were used to analyze two self-report scales for assessing adherence to recommended medication and inhaler use regimens in adults with asthma. Results indicated that the two scales had standard deviations large enough to detect variation adherence, had adequate reliability, and reflected the impact of an intervention designed to improve adherence. The results supported the usefulness of these scales for research on adherence. Additional analyses indicated that the two scales could be combined if the research goal required an overall measure of adherence.