i nuovi orizzonti dei metodi quantitativi

New Perspectives in Quantitative Methods In this essay, new perspectives in quantitative methods are analyzed by comparing linear causal models, used in the social research of Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and mathematical adaptive models with the models of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) that have been promoted actually in Italy by Massimo Buscema and his Semeion Group of Rome. This analysis of quantitative methods is examined by considering three paradigms (Kuhn) of sociological research: (a) the paradigm of objectivity, (b) The paradigm of action-research; (b) The paradigm of feminist methodology. The essay presents a map of the relations between the three paradigms in terms of specificity/generality and a study on educational issue with the application of an ANN which enables a reflection on the relations between explanation and prediction. The difference between linear causal models and Artificial Neural Network are explained as: differences in linear/non-linear mathematical models, different possibilities of using variables at different levels of scale, different paradigms in social research, differences in the explanation-prediction relation, and as different use of time in the research process

Prescription appropriateness of anti-diabetes drugs in elderly patients hospitalized in a clinical setting: evidence from the REPOSI Register

Diabetes is an increasing global health burden with the highest prevalence (24.0%) observed in elderly people. Older diabetic adults have a greater risk of hospitalization and several geriatric syndromes than older nondiabetic adults. For these conditions, special care is required in prescribing therapies including anti- diabetes drugs. Aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness and the adherence to safety recommendations in the prescriptions of glucose-lowering drugs in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes. Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the REgistro POliterapie-Società Italiana Medicina Interna (REPOSI) that collected clinical information on patients aged ≥ 65 years acutely admitted to Italian internal medicine and geriatric non-intensive care units (ICU) from 2010 up to 2019. Prescription appropriateness was assessed according to the 2019 AGS Beers Criteria and anti-diabetes drug data sheets.Among 5349 patients, 1624 (30.3%) had diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. At admission, 37.7% of diabetic patients received treatment with metformin, 37.3% insulin therapy, 16.4% sulfonylureas, and 11.4% glinides. Surprisingly, only 3.1% of diabetic patients were treated with new classes of anti- diabetes drugs. According to prescription criteria, at admission 15.4% of patients treated with metformin and 2.6% with sulfonylureas received inappropriately these treatments. At discharge, the inappropriateness of metformin therapy decreased (10.2%, P < 0.0001). According to Beers criteria, the inappropriate prescriptions of sulfonylureas raised to 29% both at admission and at discharge. This study shows a poor adherence to current guidelines on diabetes management in hospitalized elderly people with a high prevalence of inappropriate use of sulfonylureas according to the Beers criteria

Antidiabetic Drug Prescription Pattern in Hospitalized Older Patients with Diabetes

Objective: To describe the prescription pattern of antidiabetic and cardiovascular drugs in a cohort of hospitalized older patients with diabetes. Methods: Patients with diabetes aged 65 years or older hospitalized in internal medicine and/or geriatric wards throughout Italy and enrolled in the REPOSI (REgistro POliterapuie SIMI—Società Italiana di Medicina Interna) registry from 2010 to 2019 and discharged alive were included. Results: Among 1703 patients with diabetes, 1433 (84.2%) were on treatment with at least one antidiabetic drug at hospital admission, mainly prescribed as monotherapy with insulin (28.3%) or metformin (19.2%). The proportion of treated patients decreased at discharge (N = 1309, 76.9%), with a significant reduction over time. Among those prescribed, the proportion of those with insulin alone increased over time (p = 0.0066), while the proportion of those prescribed sulfonylureas decreased (p < 0.0001). Among patients receiving antidiabetic therapy at discharge, 1063 (81.2%) were also prescribed cardiovascular drugs, mainly with an antihypertensive drug alone or in combination (N = 777, 73.1%). Conclusion: The management of older patients with diabetes in a hospital setting is often sub-optimal, as shown by the increasing trend in insulin at discharge, even if an overall improvement has been highlighted by the prevalent decrease in sulfonylureas prescription

The “Diabetes Comorbidome”: A Different Way for Health Professionals to Approach the Comorbidity Burden of Diabetes

(1) Background: The disease burden related to diabetes is increasing greatly, particularly in older subjects. A more comprehensive approach towards the assessment and management of diabetes’ comorbidities is necessary. The aim of this study was to implement our previous data identifying and representing the prevalence of the comorbidities, their association with mortality, and the strength of their relationship in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes, developing, at the same time, a new graphic representation model of the comorbidome called “Diabetes Comorbidome”. (2) Methods: Data were collected from the RePoSi register. Comorbidities, socio-demographic data, severity and comorbidity indexes (Cumulative Illness rating Scale CIRS-SI and CIRS-CI), and functional status (Barthel Index), were recorded. Mortality rates were assessed in hospital and 3 and 12 months after discharge. (3) Results: Of the 4714 hospitalized elderly patients, 1378 had diabetes. The comorbidities distribution showed that arterial hypertension (57.1%), ischemic heart disease (31.4%), chronic renal failure (28.8%), atrial fibrillation (25.6%), and COPD (22.7%), were the more frequent in subjects with diabetes. The graphic comorbidome showed that the strongest predictors of death at in hospital and at the 3-month follow-up were dementia and cancer. At the 1-year follow-up, cancer was the first comorbidity independently associated with mortality. (4) Conclusions: The “Diabetes Comorbidome” represents the perfect instrument for determining the prevalence of comorbidities and the strength of their relationship with risk of death, as well as the need for an effective treatment for improving clinical outcomes

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81 years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population

Matematica e sociologia. Da Lazarsfeld alle reti neurali artificiali

Nell'articolo viene fatta una storia ampia e dettagliata dei modelli matematici distinguendo tre fasi: i modelli matematici nel periodo di Larzarfeld, i modelli matematici dai modelli statistici alle società artificiali e alla simulazione sociale, i modelli basati sulle reti neurali artificiali. L'articolo considera anche i cambiamenti avvenuti nei paradigma della ricerca. il paradigma dell'oggettività, il paradigma della ricerca azione, il paradigma della feminist methodology

Chi non ha fatto inchiesta non ha diritto di parola. La nascita della rivista "Inchiesta"

Il contributo analizza la nascita della rivista "Inchiesta" in un periodo in cui la ripresa della ricerca sociologica in Italia, dentro e fuori dell'Università si accompagna con l'incremento delle lotte operaie e studentesche del '6

Une méthode de classification basée sur l'entropie

Vittorio Capecchi : Eine auf die Entropie beruhende Klassifizierungsmethode. Das Problem der Klassifizierung von Individuen, die entsprechend ihren Antworten auf mehrere Entweder-oder-Fragen gekennzeichnet sind, ist von den Biologen verschieden gelöst worden. Der Verfasser analysiert diese Lösungen und zeigt, inwiefern sie für den Soziologen wertvoll sein konnen. Er untersucht nacheinander die Metboden, die auf die Aehnlichkeit der Antworttypen (similarité), auf die Verschiedenheit der Auslesekapazität der Fragen (sélectivité), bzw. auf diese beiden gleichzeitig in Betracht gezogenen Kriterien begrundet sind. Die fur die Selektivität vorgeschlagene Messmethode wertet Techniken aus, die aus der Theorie der Information hergeleitet sind. Der Verfasser führt ein zahlemmässiges Beispiel der letzten Klassifizierungsmethode an und vergleicht seine Resultate mit solchen, die durch die Analyse der latenten Struktur hätten gewonnen werden konnen.Виктор Капечи : Метод классификации, обоснованный на энтропии. Автор анализирует различные выводы, сделанные биологами по поводу классификации индивидумов, при помощи целой серии ответов на раздвоенные вопросы и указывает на их пользу для социолога. Он исследует последовательно методы классификации, основанные на сходстве типов ответа, на сходстве двух критериев, взятых одновременно. Мероприятия предлагаемого выбора употребляют технику, происходящую из теории информации. Автор представляет числовой пример, иллюстрируя последний метод и сопоставляет, полученную классификацию с той, которая получается после анализа неявной структуры.Vittorio Capecchi : A method of classification based on enthropy. The author analyses the various solutions biologists have found to the problem of the classification of individuals characterised by a series of answers to dichotomic questions, and points out their value for the sociologist. He examines successively the methods of classifications based on the similarity of types of answers, on the differential selectivity of the questions and on the two criteria considered simultaneously. The proposed measure of selectivity employs technics derived from the information theory. The author gives numerical examples illustrating the last method, and compares the classification obtained with that resulting from the analysis of latent structures.Vittorio Capecchi : Un metodo de clasificación basado en la entropía. El autor analiza diversas soluciones empleadas por los bíologos en el problema de la clasificación de individuos caracterizados por una serie de respuestas a preguntas dicotómicas, y muestra su utilidad para el sociólogo. Sucesivamente, examina los métodos de clasificación basados en la similitud de los tipos de respuesta, en la selectividad diferenciál de las preguntas y en los dos criterios considerados simultáneamente. La medida de la selectividad propuesta utiliza las técnicas derivadas de la teoría de la información. El autor presenta un ejemplo numérico para ilustrar el ultimo método y compara la clasificación obtenida con la que resulta del análisis de la estructura latente.Capecchi Vittorio. Une méthode de classification basée sur l'entropie. In: Revue française de sociologie, 1964, 5-3. pp. 290-306

I tre paradigmi della ricerca sociologica

In this paper the term paradigm, in the sense attributed to it by Kuhn, has been used for the following: a) standpoint methodology; (b) methodology; (c) research methods according to the definitions of Sandra Harding. Three paradigms are analyzed; (a) The paradigm of objectivity when sociological research has the goal to formulate theories (explanations) on attitudes and behaviours of people who have to make choices with the most possible objectivity. The explanations are considered scientifically valid if the researcher does not influence the answers (informations) given by the subjects of the research. Valid methods of research are only two: those in which there is no interaction on the part of researcher with the subjects of research ore those in which interactions happens through a group of professional interviewers who use a scientific method; (b) The paradigm of action research when the objective of the research is changing the attitudes and behavior of people of a particular situation. This type of research has a spiral process research → action → research which gets interrupted only when the actors of the research have achieved the changes desired; (c) The paradigm of feminist methodology when the reference point is the theories and the struggles of feminist movements. Researches confront themselves with a “feminist epistemic community”