The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.
Any system of defining ownership of dentures or dental prostheses.
The process of leaving one's country to establish residence in a foreign country.
Criteria to determine eligibility of patients for medical care programs and services.
People who leave their place of residence in one country and settle in a different country.
Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.
The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.
Mathematical or statistical procedures used as aids in making a decision. They are frequently used in medical decision-making.
Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.
The observable response an animal makes to any situation.
Use of an interactive computer system designed to assist the physician or other health professional in choosing between certain relationships or variables for the purpose of making a diagnostic or therapeutic decision.
The process by which decisions are made in an institution or other organization.
Behavioral responses or sequences associated with eating including modes of feeding, rhythmic patterns of eating, and time intervals.
A graphic device used in decision analysis, series of decision options are represented as branches (hierarchical).
A theoretical technique utilizing a group of related constructs to describe or prescribe how individuals or groups of people choose a course of action when faced with several alternatives and a variable amount of knowledge about the determinants of the outcomes of those alternatives.
Computer-based information systems used to integrate clinical and patient information and provide support for decision-making in patient care.
Patient involvement in the decision-making process in matters pertaining to health.
The act of making a selection among two or more alternatives, usually after a period of deliberation.
Any behavior caused by or affecting another individual, usually of the same species.
The observable response of a man or animal to a situation.
Behaviors expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Life style is closely associated with health behavior and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural.
An object or a situation that can serve to reinforce a response, to satisfy a motive, or to afford pleasure.
Sexual activities of humans.
Games designed to provide information on hypotheses, policies, procedures, or strategies.
The ability to understand the nature and effect of the act in which the individual is engaged. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 6th ed).
The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.
Sexual activities of animals.
The condition in which reasonable knowledge regarding risks, benefits, or the future is not available.
Informed consent given by someone other than the patient or research subject.
An activity distinguished primarily by an element of risk in trying to obtain a desired goal, e.g., playing a game of chance for money.
Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.
The interactions between physician and patient.
Self-directing freedom and especially moral independence. An ethical principle holds that the autonomy of persons ought to be respected. (Bioethics Thesaurus)
Care provided patients requiring extraordinary therapeutic measures in order to sustain and prolong life.
Any observable response or action of a child from 24 months through 12 years of age. For neonates or children younger than 24 months, INFANT BEHAVIOR is available.
Undertaking a task involving a challenge for achievement or a desirable goal in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure. It may also include the exhibiting of certain behaviors whose outcomes may present a risk to the individual or to those associated with him or her.
Any observable response or action of an adolescent.
Withholding or withdrawal of a particular treatment or treatments, often (but not necessarily) life-prolonging treatment, from a patient or from a research subject as part of a research protocol. The concept is differentiated from REFUSAL TO TREAT, where the emphasis is on the health professional's or health facility's refusal to treat a patient or group of patients when the patient or the patient's representative requests treatment. Withholding of life-prolonging treatment is usually indexed only with EUTHANASIA, PASSIVE, unless the distinction between withholding and withdrawing treatment, or the issue of withholding palliative rather than curative treatment, is discussed.
Declarations by patients, made in advance of a situation in which they may be incompetent to decide about their own care, stating their treatment preferences or authorizing a third party to make decisions for them. (Bioethics Thesaurus)
Individual's expression of desirability or value of one course of action, outcome, or selection in contrast to others.
The tendency to explore or investigate a novel environment. It is considered a motivation not clearly distinguishable from curiosity.
Voluntary authorization, by a patient or research subject, with full comprehension of the risks involved, for diagnostic or investigative procedures, and for medical and surgical treatment.
Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).
The interactions between the professional person and the family.
An act performed without delay, reflection, voluntary direction or obvious control in response to a stimulus.
Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.
Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.
An approach of practicing medicine with the goal to improve and evaluate patient care. It requires the judicious integration of best research evidence with the patient's values to make decisions about medical care. This method is to help physicians make proper diagnosis, devise best testing plan, choose best treatment and methods of disease prevention, as well as develop guidelines for large groups of patients with the same disease. (from JAMA 296 (9), 2006)
Discussions with patients and/or their representatives about the goals and desired direction of the patient's care, particularly end-of-life care, in the event that the patient is or becomes incompetent to make decisions.
The behavior patterns associated with or characteristic of a mother.
Disturbances considered to be pathological based on age and stage appropriateness, e.g., conduct disturbances and anaclitic depression. This concept does not include psychoneuroses, psychoses, or personality disorders with fixed patterns.
Instructions issued by a physician pertaining to the institution, continuation, or withdrawal of life support measures. The concept includes policies, laws, statutes, decisions, guidelines, and discussions that may affect the issuance of such orders.
Theoretical representations that simulate psychological processes and/or social processes. These include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.
Medical and nursing care of patients in the terminal stage of an illness.
The application of modern theories of learning and conditioning in the treatment of behavior disorders.
Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.
The combined discipline of psychology and economics that investigates what happens in markets in which some of the agents display human limitations and complications.
Interference with the FREEDOM or PERSONAL AUTONOMY of another person, with justifications referring to the promotion of the person's good or the prevention of harm to the person. (from Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 1995); more generally, not allowing a person to make decisions on his or her own behalf.
The degree to which the individual regards the health care service or product or the manner in which it is delivered by the provider as useful, effective, or beneficial.
The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families.
A person authorized to decide or act for another person, for example, a person having durable power of attorney.
Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.
The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed.
Animal behavior associated with the nest; includes construction, effects of size and material; behavior of the adult during the nesting period and the effect of the nest on the behavior of the young.
Relatively invariant mode of behavior elicited or determined by a particular situation; may be verbal, postural, or expressive.
The teaching or training of patients concerning their own health needs.
Failing to prevent death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy by the withdrawal or withholding of life-prolonging treatment.
The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures.
The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)
The process of discovering or asserting an objective or intrinsic relation between two objects or concepts; a faculty or power that enables a person to make judgments; the process of bringing to light and asserting the implicit meaning of a concept; a critical evaluation of a person or situation.
Individuals licensed to practice medicine.
Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.
The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)
Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)
The rostral part of the frontal lobe, bounded by the inferior precentral fissure in humans, which receives projection fibers from the MEDIODORSAL NUCLEUS OF THE THALAMUS. The prefrontal cortex receives afferent fibers from numerous structures of the DIENCEPHALON; MESENCEPHALON; and LIMBIC SYSTEM as well as cortical afferents of visual, auditory, and somatic origin.
Usually refers to the use of mathematical models in the prediction of learning to perform tasks based on the theory of probability applied to responses; it may also refer to the frequency of occurrence of the responses observed in the particular study.
Behavior which may be manifested by destructive and attacking action which is verbal or physical, by covert attitudes of hostility or by obstructionism.
Differences of opinion or disagreements that may arise, for example, between health professionals and patients or their families, or against a political regime.
A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.
Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge.
Recording of visual and sometimes sound signals on magnetic tape.
A procedure consisting of a sequence of algebraic formulas and/or logical steps to calculate or determine a given task.
Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.
Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.
The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.
Design of patient care wherein institutional resources and personnel are organized around patients rather than around specialized departments. (From Hospitals 1993 Feb 5;67(3):14)
The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity.
The process by which the nature and meaning of sensory stimuli are recognized and interpreted.
Any behavior associated with conflict between two individuals.
The physical activity of a human or an animal as a behavioral phenomenon.
The absence of a useful purpose or useful result in a diagnostic procedure or therapeutic intervention. The situation of a patient whose condition will not be improved by treatment or instances in which treatment preserves permanent unconsciousness or cannot end dependence on intensive medical care. (From Ann Intern Med 1990 Jun 15;112(12):949)
Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for assisting health care practitioners in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.
Written, witnessed declarations in which persons request that if they become disabled beyond reasonable expectation of recovery, they be allowed to die rather than be kept alive by extraordinary means. (Bioethics Thesaurus)
Relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of past experience or practice. The concept includes the acquisition of knowledge.
A method of data collection and a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH tool in which a small group of individuals are brought together and allowed to interact in a discussion of their opinions about topics, issues, or questions.
Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes.
Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent.
A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.
Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques.
The study of chance processes or the relative frequency characterizing a chance process.
The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.
Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of biological processes or diseases. For disease models in living animals, DISEASE MODELS, ANIMAL is available. Biological models include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.
The strengthening of a conditioned response.
The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)
Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.
Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures.
A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.
Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.
The reciprocal interaction of two or more persons.
A loose confederation of computer communication networks around the world. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the US Government ARPAnet project and was designed to facilitate information exchange.
An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.
Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.
The end-result or objective, which may be specified or required in advance.
Knowing or understanding without conscious use of reasoning. (Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors, 1994)
Instinctual behavior pattern in which food is obtained by killing and consuming other species.
Animal searching behavior. The variable introductory phase of an instinctive behavior pattern or sequence, e.g., looking for food, or sequential courtship patterns prior to mating.
Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of the neurological system, processes or phenomena; includes the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.
Abstract standards or empirical variables in social life which are believed to be important and/or desirable.
How information is gathered in personal, academic or work environments and the resources used.
The expected function of a member of the medical profession.
The storing or preserving of video signals for television to be played back later via a transmitter or receiver. Recordings may be made on magnetic tape or discs (VIDEODISC RECORDING).
Behavior in which persons hurt or harm themselves without the motive of suicide or of sexual deviation.
An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects, or a persistent mental and/or neural state of readiness to react to a certain class of objects, not as they are but as they are conceived to be.
The internal individual struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, or external and internal demands. In group interactions, competitive or opposing action of incompatibles: antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons). (from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed)
Standards of conduct that distinguish right from wrong.
The application of an unpleasant stimulus or penalty for the purpose of eliminating or correcting undesirable behavior.
Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.
Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.
The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.
Great Britain is not a medical term, but a geographical name for the largest island in the British Isles, which comprises England, Scotland, and Wales, forming the major part of the United Kingdom.
Tests designed to assess neurological function associated with certain behaviors. They are used in diagnosing brain dysfunction or damage and central nervous system disorders or injury.
Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.
Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity.
Signals for an action; that specific portion of a perceptual field or pattern of stimuli to which a subject has learned to respond.
A learning situation involving more than one alternative from which a selection is made in order to attain a specific goal.
Those affective states which can be experienced and have arousing and motivational properties.
Usually a written medical and nursing care program designed for a particular patient.
Reduction of high-risk choices and adoption of low-risk quantity and frequency alternatives.
New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.
Behaviors which are at variance with the expected social norm and which affect other individuals.
A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.
Feeling or emotion of dread, apprehension, and impending disaster but not disabling as with ANXIETY DISORDERS.
Learning situations in which the sequence responses of the subject are instrumental in producing reinforcement. When the correct response occurs, which involves the selection from among a repertoire of responses, the subject is immediately reinforced.
Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.
Criteria and standards used for the determination of the appropriateness of the inclusion of patients with specific conditions in proposed treatment plans and the criteria used for the inclusion of subjects in various clinical trials and other research protocols.
Approximate, quantitative reasoning that is concerned with the linguistic ambiguity which exists in natural or synthetic language. At its core are variables such as good, bad, and young as well as modifiers such as more, less, and very. These ordinary terms represent fuzzy sets in a particular problem. Fuzzy logic plays a key role in many medical expert systems.
What a person has in mind to do or bring about.
Revealing of information, by oral or written communication.
The observable, measurable, and often pathological activity of an organism that portrays its inability to overcome a habit resulting in an insatiable craving for a substance or for performing certain acts. The addictive behavior includes the emotional and physical overdependence on the object of habit in increasing amount or frequency.
The science of utilization, distribution, and consumption of services and materials.
Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.
Truthful revelation of information, specifically when the information disclosed is likely to be psychologically painful ("bad news") to the recipient (e.g., revelation to a patient or a patient's family of the patient's DIAGNOSIS or PROGNOSIS) or embarrassing to the teller (e.g., revelation of medical errors).
Societal or individual decisions about the equitable distribution of available resources.
The rights of individuals to act and make decisions without external constraints.
The aggregate of social and cultural institutions, forms, patterns, and processes that influence the life of an individual or community.
Interactions between health personnel and patients.
The capability to perform acceptably those duties directly related to patient care.
Differential response to different stimuli.
Statistical formulations or analyses which, when applied to data and found to fit the data, are then used to verify the assumptions and parameters used in the analysis. Examples of statistical models are the linear model, binomial model, polynomial model, two-parameter model, etc.
The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)
Confidence in or reliance on a person or thing.
The right of the patient or the patient's representative to make decisions with regard to the patient's dying.
The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.
The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide.
The detailed examination of observable activity or behavior associated with the execution or completion of a required function or unit of work.
The exertion of a strong influence or control over others in a variety of settings--administrative, social, academic, etc.
Those physicians who have completed the education requirements specified by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.
Compliance by health personnel or proxies with the stipulations of ADVANCE DIRECTIVES (or similar directives such as RESUSCITATION ORDERS) when patients are unable to direct their own care.
Behaviors associated with the ingesting of water and other liquids; includes rhythmic patterns of drinking (time intervals - onset and duration), frequency and satiety.
The identification, analysis, and resolution of moral problems that arise in the care of patients. (Bioethics Thesaurus)
One of the convolutions on the medial surface of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES. It surrounds the rostral part of the brain and CORPUS CALLOSUM and forms part of the LIMBIC SYSTEM.
Individuals participating in the health care system for the purpose of receiving therapeutic, diagnostic, or preventive procedures.
The kind of action or activity proper to the judiciary, particularly its responsibility for decision making.
The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM.
An outbred strain of rats developed in 1915 by crossing several Wistar Institute white females with a wild gray male. Inbred strains have been derived from this original outbred strain, including Long-Evans cinnamon rats (RATS, INBRED LEC) and Otsuka-Long-Evans-Tokushima Fatty rats (RATS, INBRED OLETF), which are models for Wilson's disease and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, respectively.
Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.
The state or quality of being kind, charitable, or beneficial. (from American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed). The ethical principle of BENEFICENCE requires producing net benefit over harm. (Bioethics Thesaurus)
Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.
Conceptual response of the person to the various aspects of death, which are based on individual psychosocial and cultural experience.
Coordinate set of non-specific behavioral responses to non-psychiatric illness. These may include loss of APPETITE or LIBIDO; disinterest in ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING; or withdrawal from social interaction.
Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)
The act or fact of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of; understanding. (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed) Includes understanding by a patient or research subject of information disclosed orally or in writing.
Clusters of topics that fall within the domain of BIOETHICS, the field of study concerned with value questions that arise in biomedicine and health care delivery.
Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a benefit or service received.
Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.
Cognitive mechanism based on expectations or beliefs about one's ability to perform actions necessary to produce a given effect. It is also a theoretical component of behavior change in various therapeutic treatments. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 1994)
The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.
Community or individual involvement in the decision-making process.
A technique of inputting two-dimensional images into a computer and then enhancing or analyzing the imagery into a form that is more useful to the human observer.
The behavior of performing an act persistently and repetitively without it leading to reward or pleasure. The act is usually a small, circumscribed behavior, almost ritualistic, yet not pathologically disturbing. Examples of compulsive behavior include twirling of hair, checking something constantly, not wanting pennies in change, straightening tilted pictures, etc.
In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.
A way of providing health care that is guided by a thoughtful integration of the best available scientific knowledge with clinical expertise. This approach allows the practitioner to critically assess research data, clinical guidelines, and other information resources in order to correctly identify the clinical problem, apply the most high-quality intervention, and re-evaluate the outcome for future improvement.
A meshlike structure composed of interconnecting nerve cells that are separated at the synaptic junction or joined to one another by cytoplasmic processes. In invertebrates, for example, the nerve net allows nerve impulses to spread over a wide area of the net because synapses can pass information in any direction.
Theoretical construct used in applied mathematics to analyze certain situations in which there is an interplay between parties that may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests. In a typical game, decision-making "players," who each have their own goals, try to gain advantage over the other parties by anticipating each other's decisions; the game is finally resolved as a consequence of the players' decisions.
Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)
Conduct and synthesis of systematic research comparing interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions. The purpose of this research is to inform patients, providers, and decision-makers, responding to their expressed needs, about which interventions are most effective for which patients under specific circumstances. (hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer/draftdefinition.html accessed 6/12/2009)
Assessment of psychological variables by the application of mathematical procedures.
Refusal of the health professional to initiate or continue treatment of a patient or group of patients. The refusal can be based on any reason. The concept is differentiated from PATIENT REFUSAL OF TREATMENT see TREATMENT REFUSAL which originates with the patient and not the health professional.
The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.
A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.
Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.