BACKGROUND Cervical cancer is the most common reproductive health cancer in Malawi. In most cases, women report to health facilities when the disease is in its advanced stage. In this study, we investigate service providers' perceptions about barriers for women to access cervical cancer screening and early treatment services in Malawi. METHODS We conducted in-depth interviews with 13 district...

Background and Purpose—Screening for dysphagia is essential to the implementation of preventive therapies for patients with stroke. A systematic review was undertaken to determine the evidence-based validity of dysphagia screening items using instrumental evaluation as the reference standard. Methods—Four databases from 1985 through March 2011 were searched using the terms cerebrovascular disea...

Background and Purpose—Screening for dysphagia is essential to the implementation of preventive therapies for patients with stroke. A systematic review was undertaken to determine the evidence-based validity of dysphagia screening items using instrumental evaluation as the reference standard. Methods—Four databases from 1985 through March 2011 were searched using the terms cerebrovascular disea...

Using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as the gold standard, the Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST) was developed for use in busy medical settings. AUDIT questionnaires were completed by 666 patients in two London accident & emergency (A&E) departments. Using a principal components analysis, as well as sensitivity and specificity indices, a two-stage screening test was deve...

The feasibility and acceptability of a two-step screening protocol for delirium identification was pilot tested. Step 1, a screening tool, comprises two items: "Please tell me the day of the week," and "Please tell me the months of the year backwards starting with December." If either/both items are incorrect, Step 2, a 3-minute diagnostic assessment, follows. Trained researchers enrolled 24 ho...

Self-report measures of psychological distress or psychopathology are widely used and can be easily implemented as psychiatric screening tools. Positive psychological constructs such as vitality/optimism and work functioning have scarcely been incorporated. We aimed to develop and validate a psychological distress instrument, including measures of vitality and work functioning. A patient sample...

the traditional economic production quantity (epq) model assumes that during the production process no imperfect item is produced. but in the real production system, due to imperfect production process or other factors, imperfect quality items may be produced. furthermore, it is well-known that the total production-inventory costs can be reduced by reworking the imperfect quality items produced...

Aims and method To explore the modern psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), we used the Rasch analysis in a sample of 767 primary care patients with depression. Results The analysis highlighted dependency issues between items 1 and 2 ('Little interest or pleasure in doing things' and 'Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless'), and items 3 and 4 ('Trouble falling or s...