Comparison Of Changes In Exercise Tolerance And Quality Of Life Between Congestive Heart Failure And Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Patients Following A Hospital-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

Few studies have compared cardiac rehabilitation program outcomes between individuals with congestive heart failure (CHF) and post coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), perhaps due to the lack of insurance reimbursement for a CHF diagnosis. Therefore, we examined the exercise tolerance and quality of life outcomes for 56 individuals with CHF (age=73±9 yrs; ejection fraction=34±11%) and 52 individuals post CABG (age=73±7 yrs; ejection fraction=57±10%) following a 12-week cardiac rehabilitation program, respectively. Both groups exercised a minimum of 24 sessions over 12-weeks while attending up to 12 educational seminars. Pre- and post- exercise tolerance was measured by a graded treadmill test and quality of life was assessed using the SF-36 Health Survey. Following the 12-week cardiac rehabilitation program there were significant improvements in exercise tolerance in individuals with CHF (163±61 to 251±70 s; p\u3c0.01) and CABG (208±62 to 309±90 s; p\u3c0.01). All nine quality of life constructs improved significantly (p\u3c0.01) within both groups. There were no significant differences in exercise tolerance or quality of life between groups (p=0.17). Furthermore, a positive and significant correlation was found between exercise tolerance and patient perceived physical function (R 2=0.34, p\u3c0.01). The data presented in this study suggest that patients with CHF can safely benefits from cardiac rehabilitation and that their outcomes are similar to patients post CABG

A Confirmatory Analysis Of The Factor Structure And Cross-Age Invariance Of The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Third Edition

In the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997), the manual reports several confirmatory factor analyses in support of the instrument\u27s latent factor structure. In practice, examiners frequently compare an examinee\u27s score from a current administration of the WAIS-III with the results from a previous test administration. Implicit in test-retest score comparisons is evidence that scores retain similar interpretive meaning across time. Establishing an instrument\u27s factorial invariance provides the foundation for this practice. This study investigated the factorial invariance of the WAIS-III across the instrument\u27s 13 age groups. The overall results from this study generally support both configural and factorial invariance of the WAIS-III when the 11 primary tests are administered

An Exploratory Investigation Of The Counseling Competencies Scale: A Measure Of Counseling Skills, Dispositions, And Behaviors

The authors examined the psychometric properties of the Counseling Competencies Scale (CCS; University of Central Florida Counselor Education Faculty, 2009), an instrument designed to assess trainee competencies as measured in their counseling skills, dispositions, and behaviors. There was strong internal consistency for the 4-factor model for midterm data (.927) and the 5-factor model for final data (.933). Interrater reliability for the total CCS score was.570, and criterion-related validity (correlation between the total score on the final CCS and semester grade) yielded a moderate correlation (r=.407, p \u3c.01). Thus, the results provide initial support for using the CCS to assess counseling students\u27 professional competencies. © 2012 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved

The Search For Optimal Cutoff Properties: Fit Index Criteria In Structural Equation Modeling

This study is a partial replication of L. Hu and P. M. Bentler\u27s (1999) fit criteria work. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine whether cut-off values vary according to which model is the true population model for a dataset and (b) to identify which of 13 fit indexes behave optimally by retaining all of the correct models while simultaneously rejecting all of the misspecified models in a manner invariant across sample size and data distribution. The authors found that for most indexes the results do not vary depending on which model serves as the correct model. Furthermore, the search for an optimal cut-off value led to a new discovery about the nature of McDonald\u27s measure of centrality and the root mean square error of approximation. Unlike all other indexes considered in this study, the cut-off value of both indexes actually decreases for incorrect models as sample size increases. This may suggest that power calculations are more likely to be optimal when based on those indices. Copyright © 2006 Heldref Publications