| 1. |
- Bertilsson, Ingrid, et al.
(författare)
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Basic Body Awareness Therapy for young adults with autism : - a pragmatic randomized controlled trial
- 2023
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Young adults with autism often have problems with body awareness, also acknowledged by physiotherapists. This may interfere with various physiological and psychological responses, expressed in reduced movement quality. Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) may be suitable to address these difficulties, to enhance body awareness and movement quality to manage everyday life. Body Awareness Scale and Movement Quality (BAS MQ) is an outcome measure with acceptable measurement properties in people with autism, that could be used to evaluate BBAT.Objectives: To evaluate if BBAT may be effective for improving movement quality in people with autism.Methods: People with autism, 15-30 years were randomized to either an individual BBAT intervention of 12 weekly sessions and treatment-as-usual, or to a control group receiving treatment-as-usual only. Winsteps transformed data of BAS MQ at baseline and post-intervention were used to analyze changes in movement quality for each group.Results: The preliminary results indicate significant improvements in BAS MQ for 7 out of 28 participants in the intervention group, while none had deteriorated. In the control group, there was no significant changes. Three participants discontinued participation due to high anxiety from travelling to and from the sessions. Conclusions: The preliminary results indicate that BBAT can enhance movement quality, in line with previous findings from other groups, such as in psychiatric and pain interventions. This is the first study of BBAT in people with autism, and therefore there is no study to compare with. The special needs in autism require being acknowledged in all service delivery. The preliminary result suggests that BBAT may be a method to improve movement quality in people with autism. Further clinical trials of BBAT should be carried out to investigate possible impacts on everyday functioning.
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| 2. |
- Johansson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Valid and Reliable? : Basic and Expanded Recommendations for Psychometric Reporting and Quality Assessment
- 2023
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is a need to improve the validity, reliability, and replicability of social and health science research and its applications through raising the quality of measurement. An important step is to establish and implement a clear and useful guideline for reporting and assessing psychometric properties of measures. We propose five basic criteria as a minimal checklist to help end users assess the quality of psychometric studies: unidimensionality; ordered response categories, invariance; targeting; and, contingent upon the previous four being fulfilled, reliability. An expanded and detailed reporting guideline is also presented, intended for use in reports and scientific publications of psychometric analyses. We argue that reliability should be reported using a Test Information Function curve, which describes the properties of the items, rather than a point estimate describing sample properties. Additionally, we present a freely available R package to streamline psychometric analysis with Rasch Measurement Theory and its documentation in line with the reporting guideline.
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| 3. |
- Karlsson, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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An evaluation and shortening of the Cooking and Food Provisioning Action Scale (CAFPAS) using item response theory
- 2023
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Ingår i: Food Quality and Preference. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0950-3293 .- 1873-6343. ; 108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Cooking and Food Provisioning Action Scale (CAFPAS) is a 28-item validated tool for measuring food agency, a latent construct representing an individual's ability to make and achieve food-preparation and -provisioning goals. Here, key measurement parameters (targeting, threshold ordering, item fit, unidimensionality, differential item functioning, local dependency, and person reliability) of the CAFPAS are evaluated using a specific case of item response theory, Rasch analysis, on data from a development sample (N = 1853; 910 from Sweden; 943 from the US). Winsteps (v.5.1.7) is used for this analysis. The similarity of the Swedish version of the CAFPAS to the original is also assessed. Based on an iterative assessment of the measurement properties with different combinations of items in the development sample, ways to shorten the CAFPAS without jeopardizing construct validity or person reliability are examined. After removing items that do not fit the Rasch model, or that appear redundant in relation to other items, an 11-item version (CAFPAS-short) is suggested and tested using further Rasch analysis on both the development sample and an additional US-based validation sample (N = 1457). Scores of cooking confidence and attitudes are then modelled with measures from the CAFPAS and CAFPAS-short using frequentist and Bayesian analysis. Results suggest that the CAFPAS-short performs similarly to the full-length version, and potential future improvements to the CAFPAS are discussed. This study represents a successful application of item response theory to investigate and shorten a psychometric scale, reducing cognitive load on participants in studies using the CAFPAS whilst minimizing loss of data reliability. © 2023 The Author(s)
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| 4. |
- Melin, Jeanette, et al.
(författare)
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A sustainable organization for measurement quality assurance of category based measurements : Tasked with coordinating and ensuring reliable and comparable measurements of experiences, feelings, behaviours and abilities
- 2023
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Why?Society's need for knowledge about experiences, feelings, behaviours and abilities is increasing. It is important to know how people and society feel or how a product or service is perceived, and to be able to compare how these change over time and between different areas, for example when making decisions about priorities, efforts and effects. In order for measurements of experiences, feelings, behaviours and abilities to be useful and provide reliable data, quality-assured measurement is required for socalled category based measurements1. It is therefore necessary that basic measurement principles are applied, which is often not the case today in this field. For the physical quantities (length, mass, time, etc.) there has long been an internationally established measurement quality infrastructure. In Sweden, it is mainly RISE as the National Metrological Institute which, through its national measurement sites, is responsible for ensuring access to quality-assured and traceable measurements for society. However, the corresponding measurement quality infrastructure is so far missing for category based measurements.What?RISE has been working for several years to develop methodology and working methods for measurement quality assurance of experiences, feelings, behaviours and abilities. Through dialogue over several years with actors at various levels, including in health care and academia, it has emerged that there is a great need for support for this development. RISE has therefore produced a first draft of a possible sustainable organization for measurement quality assurance of category based measurements. A national centre for quality assurance of category based measurements would be tasked with coordinating and ensuring reliable and comparable measurements of experiences, feelings, behaviours and abilities. Such infrastructural support must make methodologies available to enable quality assurance for category based measurements. The organization must meet society's need for support by offering services based on internationally accepted metrological principles and scientific methods, as well as adopting a neutral and independent role.How?We have humility about the fact that it is a long process to establish an organization for category based measurements and that it needs to happen through a dynamic and iterative development in co-creation with the actors involved. We look forward to continuing to develop ideas and revise the proposal in dialogue in the coming years. It is also important to start a dialogue together with relevant actors about how the implementation of the organization can take place in the future.
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| 5. |
- Melin, Jeanette, et al.
(författare)
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En hållbar organisering för mätkvalitetssäkring av kategoribaserade mätningar : Med uppdrag att samordna och säkerställa tillförlitliga och jämförbara mätningar av upplevelser, känslor, beteenden och förmågor
- 2023
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Varför?Samhällets behov av kunskap om upplevelser, känslor, beteenden och förmågor ökar. Det är viktigt att veta hur personer och samhället mår eller hur en produkt eller tjänst upplevs samt att kunna jämföra hur detta förändras över tid och mellan olika områden, för att exempelvis fatta beslut om prioriteringar, insatser och effekter. För att mätningar av upplevelser, känslor, beteenden och förmågor ska vara användbara och ge tillförlitliga underlag krävs kvalitetssäkrad mätteknik för s.k. kategoribaserade mätningar. Det är alltså nödvändigt att grundläggande mättekniska principer tillämpas, vilket ofta inte är fallet i dag inom detta område. För de fysikaliska storheterna (längd, massa, tid etc.) finns sedan länge en internationellt etablerad mätkvalitetsinfrastruktur. I Sverige är det huvudsakligen RISE som Nationellt Metrologiskt Institut som genom sina riksmätplatser ansvarar för att säkerställa tillgång till kvalitetssäkrade och spårbara mätningar för samhället. Motsvarande mätkvalitetsinfrastruktur saknas dock för kategoribaserade mätningar.Vad?RISE arbetar sedan flera år för att utveckla metoder och arbetssätt för mätkvalitetssäkring av upplevelser, känslor, beteenden och förmågor. Genom dialoger med aktörer på olika nivåer, bland annat inom hälso- och sjukvården och akademin, som pågått under flera års tid har det framkommit att det finns ett stort behov av stöd för denna utveckling. RISE har därför tagit fram ett första utkast för en möjlig hållbar organisering för mätkvalitetssäkring av kategoribaserade mätningar. Ett nationellt centrum för mätkvalitetssäkring av kategoribaserade mätningar skulle ha i uppdrag att samordna och säkerställa tillförlitliga och jämförbara mätningar av upplevelser, känslor, beteenden och förmågor. Ett sådant infrastrukturellt stöd ska tillgängliggöra metodiker för att möjliggöra mätkvalitetssäkring för kategoribaserade mätningar. Organiseringen ska möta samhällets behov av stöd genom att erbjuda tjänster baserade på internationellt vedertagna mättekniska principer och vetenskapliga metoder samt ha en neutral och oberoende roll.Hur?Det finns en stor ödmjukhet kring att det är en lång process att etablera en organisering för kategoribaserade mätningar och att det behöver ske genom en dynamisk och iterativ utveckling i samskapande med berörda aktörer. Vi ser fram emot att fortsätta utveckla tankar och revidera förslaget i dialog under kommande år. Det är också viktigt att påbörja en dialog tillsammans med relevanta aktörer om hur implementeringen av organiseringen kan ske i framtiden.
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| 6. |
- Melin, Jeanette, et al.
(författare)
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Entropy-based explanations of serial position and learning effects in ordinal responses to word list tests
- 2023
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Ingår i: Acta IMEKO. - 2221-870X. ; 12:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Measuring a person’s cognitive abilities, such as memory and learning, is central in many medical conditions to reliably diagnose, treat and monitor disease progression. Common tests typically include tasks of recalling sequences of blocks, digits or words. Recalling a word list is affected by so-called serial position effects (SPE), meaning that words at the beginning or end of the list are more likely to be recalled. In our earlier work, as part of including ordinal and nominal properties in metrology, compensation for ordinality in the raw test scores has been performed with psychometric Rasch measurement theory. Thereafter, SPE have been successfully explained with construct specification equations (CSE) dominated by information theoretical entropy as candidate reference measurement procedures. Here, we present how previous German results for explaining memory difficulty in the immediate recalling (IR, trial 1) task of the Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) can be replicated with a Swedish cohort (the Gothenburg Mild Cognitive Impairment study, n = 251). This CSE replicability for RAVLT demonstrates comparability across the two cohorts in a kind of inter-laboratory study. Moreover, RAVLT includes repeated trials and learning through practice is expected. How memory task difficulty changes over the eight trials in RAVLT is studied: SPE are not so prominent for the delayed recalling sequences and there is an overall reduction in the task difficulty CSE intercept with trial number, interpreted as an effect of learning. To conclude, the methodology and evidence provided here can be clinically used not only to measure a person’s memory ability but also his or her learning ability, as well as understanding the relationship between learning ability and other cognitive domains.
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| 7. |
- Melin, Jeanette, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring a New Application of Construct Specification Equations (CSEs) and Entropy : A Pilot Study with Balance Measurements
- 2023
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Ingår i: Entropy. - : MDPI. - 1099-4300. ; 25:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both construct specification equations (CSEs) and entropy can be used to provide a specific, causal, and rigorously mathematical conceptualization of item attributes in order to provide fit-for-purpose measurements of person abilities. This has been previously demonstrated for memory measurements. It can also be reasonably expected to be applicable to other kinds of measures of human abilities and task difficulty in health care, but further exploration is needed about how to incorporate qualitative explanatory variables in the CSE formulation. In this paper we report two case studies exploring the possibilities of advancing CSE and entropy to include human functional balance measurements. In case study I, physiotherapists have formulated a CSE for balance task difficulty by principal component regression of empirical balance task difficulty values from Berg’s Balance Scale transformed using the Rasch model. In case study II, four balance tasks of increasing difficulty due to diminishing bases of support and vision were briefly investigated in relation to entropy as a measure of the amount of information and order as well as physical thermodynamics. The pilot study has explored both methodological and conceptual possibilities and concerns to be considered in further work. The results should not be considered as fully comprehensive or absolute, but rather open up for further discussion and investigations to advance measurements of person balance ability in clinical practice, research, and trials. © 2023 by the authors.
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| 8. |
- Melin, Jeanette, et al.
(författare)
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Forward and Backward Recalling Sequences in Spatial and Verbal Memory Tasks : What Do We Measure?
- 2023
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Ingår i: Entropy. - : MDPI. - 1099-4300. ; 25:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are different views in the literature about the number and inter-relationships of cognitive domains (such as memory and executive function) and a lack of understanding of the cognitive processes underlying these domains. In previous publications, we demonstrated a methodology for formulating and testing cognitive constructs for visuo-spatial and verbal recall tasks, particularly for working memory task difficulty where entropy is found to play a major role. In the present paper, we applied those insights to a new set of such memory tasks, namely, backward recalling block tapping and digit sequences. Once again, we saw clear and strong entropy-based construct specification equations (CSEs) for task difficulty. In fact, the entropy contributions in the CSEs for the different tasks were of similar magnitudes (within the measurement uncertainties), which may indicate a shared factor in what is being measured with both forward and backward sequences, as well as visuo-spatial and verbal memory recalling tasks more generally. On the other hand, the analyses of dimensionality and the larger measurement uncertainties in the CSEs for the backward sequences suggest that caution is needed when attempting to unify a single unidimensional construct based on forward and backward sequences with visuo-spatial and verbal memory tasks.
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| 9. |
- Melin, Jeanette, et al.
(författare)
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Metrological advancements in cognitive measurement : A worked example with the NeuroMET memory metric providing more reliability and efficiency
- 2023
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Ingår i: Measurement: Sensors. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 2665-9174. ; 25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Better metrics of cognition can be formed by carefully combining selected items from legacy short-term memory tests so as to enhance coherence in item design while not jeopardizing validity. In this paper, we report on how Rasch Measurement Theory and Construct specification equations (CSE) have been brought together when composing the NeuroMET Memory Metric (NMM). The NMM is guided by: i) entropy-based equivalence criteria; ii) a comprehensive understanding of the construct purported to be measured; and iii) how a collection of items works together. CSEs play a major role in ensuring the metrological legitimacy of the NMM in a way analogous to certified reference materials in more established areas of metrology. The resulting NMM for short-term memory recall has up to a five-fold reduction in measurement uncertainties for memory ability compared with an individual legacy test, and the entropy-based CSEs should enable more efficient and valid assessment. © 2022 The Authors
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| 10. |
- Melin, Jeanette, et al.
(författare)
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NeuroMET Memory Metric : Improving accuracy and comparability with crosswalks
- 2023
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Ingår i: Alzheimer’s & Dementia. - 2352-8737. ; 19:S4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The ability to measure, track over time, and compare memory ability for people with neurodegeneration is important. However, currently, full comparability of memory test data is limited by a lack of quality assurance of memory measurements. At AAIC 2021, we presented a preliminary item bank to assess memory, composed by selecting items from legacy tests according to metrological principles through use of the Rasch model and with item equivalence based on entropy. Method: Here, we demonstrate direct comparability of measurements generated from different tests, with the new NeuroMET Memory Metric comprising 87 selected items for task difficulty from: the Corsi Block Test, Digit Span Test, Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Word Learning List from the CERAD test battery and the Mini Mental State Examination. Data were collected from the European EMPIR NeuroMET and the SmartAge studies recruited at Charité Hospital (Healthy controls n = 92; Subjective cognitive decline n = 160; Mild Cognitive Impairment n = 50; and Alzheimer’s Disease n = 58; age range 55-87). Results: The Rasch analysis showed well-targeted items for all participants’ abilities; good fit to the measurement model, with 83 items (95%) having fit residuals within the expected range and satisfactory unidimensionality, and item reliability of 0.96. The full item bank comprising 87 short-term memory items gave a person reliability of 0.85. Subsequently, a conversion table was created linking the raw scores from the legacy tests to the common NeuroMET Memory Metric and to individual legacy tests. Conclusion: Legacy memory tests have previously proven useful in clinical practice and research, and will continue to be used, but have to date been metrologically limited. The provided conversion table, linking these legacy memory tests to a metrologically assured scale, viz., the NeuroMET memory metric, remedies this deficiency. The NeuroMET memory metric will be included in the first ever prototype of a metrological validated app used to deliver memory tests. Clinicians and researchers will be able to select sets of items to produce data, via a scoring algorithm for transforming patient responses to measures, in a common frame of reference.
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