Relation between depression and sociodemographic factors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in Western countries and is related to increased morbidity and mortality from medical conditions and decreased quality of life. The sociodemographic factors of age, gender, marital status, education, immigrant status, and income have consistently been identified as important factors in explaining the variability in depression prevalence rates. This study evaluates the relationship between depression and these sociodemographic factors in the province of Ontario in Canada using the Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 1.2 (CCHS-1.2) dataset.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The CCHS-1.2 survey classified depression into <it>lifetime depression </it>and <it>12-month depression</it>. The data were collected based on unequal sampling probabilities to ensure adequate representation of young persons (15 to 24) and seniors (65 and over). The sampling weights were used to estimate the prevalence of depression in each subgroup of the population. The multiple logistic regression technique was used to estimate the odds ratio of depression for each sociodemographic factor.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The odds ratio of depression for men compared with women is about 0.60. The lowest and highest rates of depression are seen among people living with their married partners and divorced individuals, respectively. Prevalence of depression among people who live with common-law partners is similar to rates of depression among separated and divorced individuals. The lowest and highest rates of depression based on the level of education is seen among individuals with less than secondary school and those with "other post-secondary" education, respectively. Prevalence of 12-month and lifetime depression among individuals who were born in Canada is higher compared to Canadian residents who immigrated to Canada irrespective of gender. There is an inverse relation between income and the prevalence of depression (p < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The patterns uncovered in this dataset are consistent with previously reported prevalence rates for Canada and other Western countries. The negative relation between age and depression after adjusting for some sociodemographic factors is consistent with some previous findings and contrasts with some older findings that the relation between age and depression is U-shaped. The rate of depression among individuals living common-law is similar to that of separated and divorced individuals, not married individuals, with whom they are most often grouped in other studies.</p

How does correlation structure differ between real and fabricated data-sets?

BACKGROUND: Misconduct in medical research has been the subject of many papers in recent years. Among different types of misconduct, data fabrication might be considered as one of the most severe cases. There have been some arguments that correlation coefficients in fabricated data-sets are usually greater than that found in real data-sets. We aim to study the differences between real and fabricated data-sets in term of the association between two variables. METHOD: Three examples are presented where outcomes from made up (fabricated) data-sets are compared with the results from three real data-sets and with appropriate simulated data-sets. Data-sets were made up by faculty members in three universities. The first two examples are devoted to the correlation structures between continuous variables in two different settings: first, when there is high correlation coefficient between variables, second, when the variables are not correlated. In the third example the differences between real data-set and fabricated data-sets are studied using the independent t-test for comparison between two means. RESULTS: In general, higher correlation coefficients are seen in made up data-sets compared to the real data-sets. This occurs even when the participants are aware that the correlation coefficient for the corresponding real data-set is zero. The findings from the third example, a comparison between means in two groups, shows that many people tend to make up data with less or no differences between groups even when they know how and to what extent the groups are different. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that high correlation coefficients can be considered as a leading sign of data fabrication; as more than 40% of the participants generated variables with correlation coefficients greater than 0.70. However, when inspecting for the differences between means in different groups, the same rule may not be applicable as we observed smaller differences between groups in made up compared to the real data-set. We also showed that inspecting the scatter-plot of two variables can be considered as a useful tool for uncovering fabricated data

Where Would You Turn For Help? Older Adults’ Knowledge and Awareness of Community Support Services

Community support services (CSSs) enable persons coping with health or social problems to maintain the highest possible level of social functioning and quality of life. Access to these services is challenging because of the multiplicity of small agencies providing these services and the lack of a central access point. A review of the literature revealed that most service awareness studies are marred by acquiescence bias. To address this issue, service providers developed a series of 12 vignettes to describe common situations faced by older adults for which CSSs might be appropriate. In a telephone interview, 1152 older adults were presented with a series of vignettes and asked what they would do in that situation. They were also asked about their most important sources of information about CSSs. Findings show awareness of CSSs varied by the situation described and ranged from a low of 1% to 41%. The most important sources of information about CSSs included informational and referral sources, the telephone book, doctor’s offices, and through word of mouth.Community Support Services, awareness, knowledge, acquiencence bias, vignette methodology

Where Would You Turn For Help? Older Adults’ Knowledge and Awareness of Community Support Services

Community support services (CSSs) enable persons coping with health or social problems to maintain the highest possible level of social functioning and quality of life. Access to these services is challenging because of the multiplicity of small agencies providing these services and the lack of a central access point. A review of the literature revealed that most service awareness studies are marred by acquiescence bias. To address this issue, service providers developed a series of 12 vignettes to describe common situations faced by older adults for which CSSs might be appropriate. In a telephone interview, 1152 older adults were presented with a series of vignettes and asked what they would do in that situation. They were also asked about their most important sources of information about CSSs. Findings show awareness of CSSs varied by the situation described and ranged from a low of 1% to 41%. The most important sources of information about CSSs included informational and referral sources, the telephone book, doctor’s offices, and through word of mouth.Community Support Services, awareness, knowledge, acquiencence bias, vignette methodology

Transforming Problem-Based Learning through Abductive Reasoning

Background: Hypothetico-deductive reasoning is the current approach for reasoning through care situations within problem-based learning (PBL). While this approach is widely used in both PBL and non-PBL curricula, abductive reasoning is recommended (as an alternative approach) due to its broader method for analyzing and explaining care situations within problem-based learning. Method: A step-by-step process rooted in abductive reasoning is proposed and demonstrated as a new way of examining and explaining care situations within problem-based learning. Results: The proposed strategy emphasizes the creation of hypotheses through phenomena detection, development of a causal model, identification of learning needs, recognition of salience, synthesis and reflection. Conclusion: Since the proposed approach has not been implemented previously, its practical implications require research attention which will contribute to the emerging field of abductive reasoning within nursing education. Résumé : Contexte : Dans l’apprentissage par problèmes (APP), le raisonnement hypothético-déductif est l’approche actuellement utilisée pour raisonner à partir de situations de soins. Or, bien que cette approche soit largement utilisée dans les programmes fondés sur l’APP et ceux qui ne le sont pas, le raisonnement abductif est recommandé (comme autre approche) puisque sa méthode d’analyse et d’explication des situations de soins au sein de l’APP est plus vaste. Méthode : Proposer et démontrer un processus étape par étape ancré dans le raisonnement abductif, comme une nouvelle manière d’analyser et d’expliquer des situations de soins dans le cadre de l’APP. Résultats : La stratégie proposée favorise la formulation d’hypothèses par la détection de phénomènes, la mise en place d’un modèle causal, l’identification des besoins d’apprentissage, la reconnaissance de la prépondérance, la synthèse et la réflexion.. Conclusion : Puisque l’approche proposée n’a pas été mise en place auparavant, ses implications pratiques nécessitent des recherches, qui contribueront au domaine émergent du raisonnement abductif dans le cadre de la formation en sciences infirmières

Older Adults’ Awareness of Community Health and Support Services for Dementia Care

The article examines where older adults seek help in caring for a parent with dementia and the factors associated with their identification of community health and support services as sources of assistance. The authors conducted telephone interviews, using random digit dialing, of 1,152 adults aged 50 and over in the city of Hamilton. Respondents received a vignette that raised issues related to parental dementia. In identifying support sources, over 37 per cent of respondents identified their physician, 33 per cent identified informal support such as family and neighbors, and 31 per cent identified home health services. Only 18 per cent identified community support services. Female participants having higher levels of education were more likely to identify their physician as a source of support. Knowing where to find information about community support services was associated with an increased likelihood of mentioning physicians and home health services as sources of assistance.community support services , awareness , dementia , caregivers , vignette methodology

Older Adults’ Awareness of Community Health and Support Services for Dementia Care

The article examines where older adults seek help in caring for a parent with dementia and the factors associated with their identification of community health and support services as sources of assistance. The authors conducted telephone interviews, using random digit dialing, of 1,152 adults aged 50 and over in the city of Hamilton. Respondents received a vignette that raised issues related to parental dementia. In identifying support sources, over 37 per cent of respondents identified their physician, 33 per cent identified informal support such as family and neighbors, and 31 per cent identified home health services. Only 18 per cent identified community support services. Female participants having higher levels of education were more likely to identify their physician as a source of support. Knowing where to find information about community support services was associated with an increased likelihood of mentioning physicians and home health services as sources of assistance.community support services , awareness , dementia , caregivers , vignette methodology

Where Would You Turn for Help? Older Adults’ Awareness of Community Support Services

Previous findings on older adults’ awareness of community support services (CSSs) have been inconsistent and marred by acquiescence or over-claiming bias. To address this issue, this study used a series of 12 vignettes to describe common situations faced by older adults for which CSSs might be appropriate. In telephone interviews, 1,152 adults aged 50 years and over were read a series of vignettes and asked if they were able to identify a community organization or agency that they may turn to in that situation. They were also asked about their most important sources of information about CSSs. The findings show that, using a vignette methodology, awareness of CSSs is much lower than previously thought. The most important sources of information about CSSs included information and referral sources, the telephone book, doctors’ offices, and word of mouth.aging, community support services, awareness, knowledge, acquiescence bias, vignette methodology

Where Would You Turn for Help? Older Adults’ Awareness of Community Health and Support Services for Dementia Care

Previous findings on older adults’ awareness of community support services (CSSs) have been inconsistent and marred by acquiescence or over-claiming bias. To address this issue, this study used a series of 12 vignettes to describe common situations faced by older adults for which CSSs might be appropriate. In telephone interviews, 1,152 adults aged 50 years and over were read a series of vignettes and asked if they were able to identify a community organization or agency that they may turn to in that situation. They were also asked about their most important sources of information about CSSs. The findings show that, using a vignette methodology, awareness of CSSs is much lower than previously thought. The most important sources of information about CSSs included information and referral sources, the telephone book, doctors’ offices, and word of mouth.aging, community support services, awareness, knowledge, acquiescence bias, vignette methodology