The development of instruments to measure the work disability assessment behaviour of insurance physicians

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Variation in assessments is a universal given, and work disability assessments by insurance physicians are no exception. Little is known about the considerations and views of insurance physicians that may partly explain such variation. On the basis of the Attitude - Social norm - self Efficacy (ASE) model, we have developed measurement instruments for assessment behaviour and its determinants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Based on theory and interviews with insurance physicians the questionnaire included blocks of items concerning background variables, intentions, attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, knowledge, barriers and behaviour of the insurance physicians in relation to work disability assessment issues. The responses of 231 insurance physicians were suitable for further analysis. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were used to form scale variables and homogeneity analysis was used to form dimension variables. Thus, we included 169 of the 177 original items.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Factor analysis and reliability analysis yielded 29 scales with sufficient reliability. Homogeneity analysis yielded 19 dimensions. Scales and dimensions fitted with the concepts of the ASE model. We slightly modified the ASE model by dividing behaviour into two blocks: behaviour that reflects the assessment process and behaviour that reflects assessment behaviour.</p> <p>The picture that emerged from the descriptive results was of a group of physicians who were motivated in their job and positive about the Dutch social security system in general. However, only half of them had a positive opinion about the Dutch Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA). They also reported serious barriers, the most common of which was work pressure. Finally, 73% of the insurance physicians described the majority of their cases as 'difficult'.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The scales and dimensions developed appear to be valid and offer a promising basis for future research. The results suggest that the underlying ASE model, in modified form, is suitable for describing the assessment behaviour of insurance physicians and the determinants of this behaviour. The next step in this line of research should be to validate the model using structural equation modelling. Finally, the predictive value should be tested in relation to outcome measurements of work disability assessments.</p

Critical evaluation of the newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism in the Netherlands.

Objective: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is defined as thyroid hormone de ficiency at birth due to disorders of the thyroid gland (thyroidal CH, CH-T), or the hypothalamus or pitu itary (central CH, CH-C). The Dutch Newborn Screening (NBS) strategy is primarily based on determination of thyroxine (T4) concentrations in dried blood spots followed, if necessary, by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxin e-binding globulin (TBG) measurement enabling detection of both CH-T and CH-C. A calculated T4/TBG ratio serv es as an indirect measure for free T4. A T4/TBG ratio . 17 in a second heel puncture is suggestive of CH-C. Design and methods: In the present study, we evaluated 11 years of Dutch CH NBS us ing a database of referred cases by assessing the contribution of each criterion in the unique s tepwise T4-TSH-TBG NBS algorithm. Results: Between 2007 and the end of 2017, 1 963 465 newborns were scre ened in the Netherlands. Use of the stepwise algorithm led to 3044 referrals and the identification of 612 CH cases, consisting of 496 CH-T, 86 CH-C, and 30 CH of unknown origin diagnoses. We detected 62.8% of CH-C ca ses by the T4/TBG ratio in the second heel puncture. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the stepwise T 4-TSH-TBG NBS algorithm was 21.0%. Conclusion: This evaluation shows that the Dutch stepwise T4-TSH-TBG NBS a lgorithm with a calculated T4/TBG ratio is of great value for the detection of both CH-T and CH-C in the N etherlands, at the cost of a lower PPV compared to TSHbased NBS strategies

Critical evaluation of the newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism in the Netherlands

Objective: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is defined as thyroid hormone deficiency at birth due to disorders of the thyroid gland (thyroidal CH, CH-T), or the hypothalamus or pituitary (central CH, CH-C). The Dutch Newborn Screening (NBS) strategy is primarily based on determination of thyroxine (T4) concentrations in dried blood spots followed, if necessary, by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) measurement enabling detection of both CH-T and CH-C. A calculated T4/TBG ratio serves as an indirect measure for free T4. A T4/TBG ratio ≤ 17 in a second heel puncture is suggestive of CH-C. Design and methods: In the present study, we evaluated 11 years of Dutch CH NBS using a database of referred cases by assessing the contribution of each criterion in the unique stepwise T4-TSH-TBG NBS algorithm. Results: Between 2007 and the end of 2017, 1 963 465 newborns were screened in the Netherlands. Use of the stepwise algorithm led to 3044 referrals and the identification of 612 CH cases, consisting of 496 CH-T, 86 CH-C, and 30 CH of unknown origin diagnoses. We detected 62.8% of CH-C cases by the T4/TBG ratio in the second heel puncture. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the stepwise T4-TSH-TBG NBS algorithm was 21.0%. Conclusion: This evaluation shows that the Dutch stepwise T4-TSH-TBG NBS algorithm with a calculated T4/TBG ratio is of great value for the detection of both CH-T and CH-C in the Netherlands, at the cost of a lower PPV compared to TSH-based NBS strategies

Critical evaluation of the newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism in the Netherlands

Objective: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is defined as thyroid hormone de ficiency at birth due to disorders of the thyroid gland (thyroidal CH, CH-T), or the hypothalamus or pitu itary (central CH, CH-C). The Dutch Newborn Screening (NBS) strategy is primarily based on determination of thyroxine (T4) concentrations in dried blood spots followed, if necessary, by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxin e-binding globulin (TBG) measurement enabling detection of both CH-T and CH-C. A calculated T4/TBG ratio serv es as an indirect measure for free T4. A T4/TBG ratio . 17 in a second heel puncture is suggestive of CH-C. Design and methods: In the present study, we evaluated 11 years of Dutch CH NBS us ing a database of referred cases by assessing the contribution of each criterion in the unique s tepwise T4-TSH-TBG NBS algorithm. Results: Between 2007 and the end of 2017, 1 963 465 newborns were scre ened in the Netherlands. Use of the stepwise algorithm led to 3044 referrals and the identification of 612 CH cases, consisting of 496 CH-T, 86 CH-C, and 30 CH of unknown origin diagnoses. We detected 62.8% of CH-C ca ses by the T4/TBG ratio in the second heel puncture. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the stepwise T 4-TSH-TBG NBS algorithm was 21.0%. Conclusion: This evaluation shows that the Dutch stepwise T4-TSH-TBG NBS a lgorithm with a calculated T4/TBG ratio is of great value for the detection of both CH-T and CH-C in the N etherlands, at the cost of a lower PPV compared to TSHbased NBS strategies