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- de Alwis, M.P., et al.
(författare)
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Crew acceleration exposure, health and performance in high-speed operations at sea
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The presented research program investigates the association between working conditions aboard High-Speed Craft (HSC) and its outcomes in terms of acceleration exposure and crew health and systems performance respectively. The aim is to identify the related risk factors and further, to use them to improve the assessment criteria in a simulation-based-design framework. The investigation initially document a seaborne population by a web-based questionnaire tailored for High-Performance Marine Craft Personnel (HPMCP) and similar populations. Then data is collected during regular service by measuring craft acceleration and through another questionnaire especially resolute on perceived work-exposure, health and performance. Exposure and performance data is collected daily and health data weekly, depending on seaborne frequency. The population repeats the prevalence questionnaire about a year later enabling a longitudinal follow-up for identifying long-term effects of exposure. The paper reports the two questionnaires´ development and pilot test as well as the first application for baseline data collection in the target group. The results indicate health and performance characteristics of the study population and data shows a promising correlation between the self-reported subjective exposure and the measured objective acceleration. Data indicates a comparatively higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the study population than that of the general population.
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| 2. |
- de Alwis, Manudul Pahansen, et al.
(författare)
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Development and validation of a web-based questionnaire for surveying the health and working conditions of high-performance marine craft populations
- 2016
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 6:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background High-performance marine craft crews are susceptible to various adverse health conditions caused by multiple interactive factors. However, there are limited epidemiological data available for assessment of working conditions at sea. Although questionnaire surveys are widely used for identifying exposures, outcomes and associated risks with high accuracy levels, until now, no validated epidemiological tool exists for surveying occupational health and performance in these populations. Aim To develop and validate a web-based questionnaire for epidemiological assessment of occupational and individual risk exposure pertinent to the musculoskeletal health conditions and performance in high-performance marine craft populations. Method A questionnaire for investigating the association between work-related exposure, performance and health was initially developed by a consensus panel under four subdomains, viz. demography, lifestyle, work exposure and health and systematically validated by expert raters for content relevance and simplicity in three consecutive stages, each iteratively followed by a consensus panel revision. The item content validity index (I-CVI) was determined as the proportion of experts giving a rating of 3 or 4. The scale content validity index (S-CVI/Ave) was computed by averaging the I-CVIs for the assessment of the questionnaire as a tool. Finally, the questionnaire was pilot tested. Results The S-CVI/Ave increased from 0.89 to 0.96 for relevance and from 0.76 to 0.94 for simplicity, resulting in 36 items in the final questionnaire. The pilot test confirmed the feasibility of the questionnaire. Conclusions The present study shows that the web-based questionnaire fulfils previously published validity acceptance criteria and is therefore considered valid and feasible for the empirical surveying of epidemiological aspects among high-performance marine craft crews and similar populations.
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| 4. |
- He, Zehui, et al.
(författare)
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Rasch Analysis of the Dermatology Life Quality Index Reveals Limited Application to Chinese Patients with Skin Disease
- 2018
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Ingår i: Acta Dermato-Venereologica. - : Acta Dermato-Venereologica. - 0001-5555 .- 1651-2057. ; 98:1, s. 59-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and to assess the invariance of its items with respect to several patient parameters via Rasch analysis. Data were aggregated from 9,845 patients with various skin diseases across 9 hospitals in different regions of China. The response structure, local independence, and reliability of the DLQI scale were analysed in a partial credit model, and differential item functioning (DIF) across region, disease, sex, and age were assessed with a Mantel-Haenszel procedure. Although acceptable scale reliability (Person Separation Index=2.3) was obtained, several problems were revealed, including disordered response thresholds, misfitting items, DIF by geographical region and disease, and mis-targeting patients with mild impairment regarding health-related quality of life (HRQL). In conclusion, the DLQI provides inadequate information on patients' impairments in HRQL, and the application of the DLQI in Chinese patients with skin disease is limited.
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| 5. |
- Lo Martire, Riccardo, et al.
(författare)
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Construction of a web-based questionnaire for longitudinal investigation of work exposure, musculoskeletal pain and performance impairments in high-performance marine craft populations
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ. - 2044-6055. ; 7:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: High-performance marine craft personnel (HPMCP) are regularly exposed to vibration and repeated shock (VRS) levels exceeding maximum limitations stated by international legislation. Whereas such exposure reportedly is detrimental to health and performance, the epidemiological data necessary to link these adverse effects causally to VRS are not available in the scientific literature, and no suitable tools for acquiring such data exist. This study therefore constructed a questionnaire for longitudinal investigations in HPMCP.METHODS: A consensus panel defined content domains, identified relevant items and outlined a questionnaire. The relevance and simplicity of the questionnaire's content were then systematically assessed by expert raters in three consecutive stages, each followed by revisions. An item-level content validity index (I-CVI) was computed as the proportion of experts rating an item as relevant and simple, and a scale-level content validity index (S-CVI/Ave) as the average I-CVI across items. The thresholds for acceptable content validity were 0.78 and 0.90, respectively. Finally, a dynamic web version of the questionnaire was constructed and pilot tested over a 1-month period during a marine exercise in a study population sample of eight subjects, while accelerometers simultaneously quantified VRS exposure.RESULTS: Content domains were defined as work exposure, musculoskeletal pain and human performance, and items were selected to reflect these constructs. Ratings from nine experts yielded S-CVI/Ave of 0.97 and 1.00 for relevance and simplicity, respectively, and the pilot test suggested that responses were sensitive to change in acceleration and that the questionnaire, following some adjustments, was feasible for its intended purpose.CONCLUSIONS: A dynamic web-based questionnaire for longitudinal survey of key variables in HPMCP was constructed. Expert ratings supported that the questionnaire content is relevant, simple and sufficiently comprehensive, and the pilot test suggested that the questionnaire is feasible for longitudinal measurements in the study population.
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| 10. |
- Lo Martire, Riccardo, et al.
(författare)
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Neck muscle EMG-force relationship and its reliability during isometric contractions
- 2017
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Ingår i: Sports medicine - open. - : Springer. - 2199-1170 .- 2198-9761. ; 3:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Susceptible to injury, the neck is subject to scientific investigations, frequently aiming to elucidate possible injury mechanisms via surface electromyography (EMG) by indirectly estimating cervical loads. Accurate estimation requires that the EMG-force relationship is known and that its measurement error is quantified. Hence, this study examined the relationship between EMG and isometric force amplitude of the anterior neck (AN), the upper posterior neck (UPN), and the lower posterior neck (LPN) and then assessed the relationships' test-retest reliability across force-percentiles within and between days.METHODS: EMG and force data were sampled from 18 participants conducting randomly ordered muscle contractions at 5-90% of maximal voluntary force during three trials over 2 days. EMG-force relationships were modeled with general linear mixed-effects regression. Overall fitted lines' between-trial discrepancies were evaluated. Finally, the reliability of participants' fitted regression lines was quantified by an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the standard error of measurement (SEM).RESULTS: A rectilinear model had the best fit for AN while positively oriented quadratic models had the best fit for UPN and LPN, with mean adjusted conditional coefficients of determination and root mean square errors of 0.97-0.98 and 4-5%, respectively. Overall EMG-force relationships displayed a maximum 6% between-trial discrepancy and over 20% of maximal force, and mean ICC was above 0.79 within day and 0.27-0.61 between days across areas. Corresponding SEM was below 12% both within and between days across areas, excluding UPN between days, for which SEM was higher.CONCLUSIONS: EMG-force relationships were elucidated for three neck areas, and provided models allow inferences to be drawn from EMG to force on a group level. Reliability of EMG-force relationship models was higher within than between days, but typically acceptable for all but the lowest contraction intensities, and enables adjustment for measurement imprecision in future studies.
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