In this paper we present a methodological framework for usefulness evaluation of digital libraries and information services that has been tested successfully in two case studies before developing a corresponding tool that may be used for further investigations. The tool is based on a combination of a knowledge base with exploitable and modifiable questions and an open source tool for online-que...

BACKGROUND delirium is under-recognised in comparison to other common and serious acute disorders. A 2006 survey of UK junior doctors (not undertaking specialist training) identified poor knowledge of the diagnostic criteria and treatment of delirium. We hypothesised that increased prominence accorded to delirium in the form of national initiatives and guidelines may have had an impact on under...

The objective of this research was to compare the response of adult smokers in Malaysia to newly proposed pictorial cigarette warnings against the current text-only warnings. The study population included 140 adult male smokers who were enrolled in a randomized trial to view either the new pictorial warnings (intervention) or the old text-only warnings (control). Participants completed pre-expo...

Unproctored, web-based assessments supposedly reduce social desirability distortions in self-report questionnaires because of an increased sense of privacy among participants. Three random-effects meta-analyses focusing either on social desirability ( k = 30, total N = 3,746), the Big Five of personality ( k = 66, total N = 2,951), or psychopathology ( k = 96, total N = 16,034) compared social ...

This study evaluated the responsiveness of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), an individualized, client-centered outcome measure for the identification and evaluation of self-perceived occupational performance problems. We recruited 152 consecutive patients with various diagnoses, admitted to the outpatient clinic of two occupational therapy departments, to complete a COPM in...

Current policy approaches to social and ethical issues surrounding biobanks manifest lack of public information given by researchers and government, despite the evidence that Italian citizens are well informed about technical and other public perspectives of biotechnologies. For this reason, the focus of our survey was to interview our University's students on these aspects. The sample consiste...

BACKGROUND Improved hygiene in Westernised regions of the world may be partly responsible for the increased prevalence of diseases of the immune system, such as asthma and atopy. There is a paucity of data on cleanliness norms in young children in the UK and there has been no attempt to identify factors that influence the adoption of particular hygiene practices in the home. AIMS To examine l...

BACKGROUND Previous research has indicated neck-shoulder disorders to have a fluctuating course incorporating a variety of symptoms. These findings awoke our interest to make a comparison between symptoms experienced by people affected with the disorder and the content of questionnaires that assess pain and other symptoms in neck-shoulder disorders. Thus the aims of this study were: -to explore...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to develop and validate a novel self-administered questionnaire for assessing the patient's own range of motion (ROM) of the wrist and the elbow. METHODS In a prospective clinical study from January 2015 to June 2015, 101 consecutive patients were evaluated with a novel, self-administered, diagram-based, wrist motion assessment score (W-MAS) and elbow moti...