Search results

As people age, medical decisions become more complex, including conversations about cancer screening. For patients aged 76-85, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) advises clinicians that decisions about colorectal cancer (CRC) screening should be individualized based on overall health and prior screening history (C recommendation). However, studies find that many older adults are not well-informed about, nor meaningfully engaged in, decisions about whether to continue CRC screening. Shared decision making (SDM) has been shown to improve the quality of decisions about initiating cancer screening but little is known about its effectiveness for decisions about stopping interventions. This study addresses a gap in the understanding of how to support clinicians and older patients in making good decisions about whether to continue CRC screening or not.

The researchers conducted a comparative effectiveness trial that randomly assigned clinicians at participating academic and community practices to one of two different decision support strategies. The first strategy (Registry arm) took a population health management (PHM) approach and used a patient registry to identify and track use of CRC screening among older adults for each clinician. The second strategy enhanced the registry by adding a multi-faceted SDM training program for clinicians (SDM Skills arm). The researchers enrolled patients of participating primary care providers (PCPs), aged 76-85, who are due or overdue for CRC screening, and survey them shortly after an office visit to determine the impact of the two strategies on outcomes of importance to patients. The study randomly assigned about 60 participating PCPs to the SDM skills or Registry arms, and enroll about 500 of their eligible patients.

Researchers often use data from patients' health records to compare treatments. But many things--not just treatments--affect patients' health. To figure out whether changes in patients' health result from treatment or something else, researchers can use statistical methods called instrumental variables, or IVs. IV methods account for factors that affect health but aren't in patients' health records, such as eating habits. Existing IV methods work well when looking at health outcomes that are measured using certain types of scales, such as blood pressure. But existing methods don't work as well to measure the time until a health event occurs, particularly when an event, like death, has not occurred for many patients in the study.

In this study, the research team created and tested a new IV method to more accurately estimate how a treatment relates to the time until a health event.

Patient-reported outcome measures, or PROMs, are surveys that ask patients how they feel and what activities they can do. All PROMs have measurement properties. These properties help researchers understand how well the PROM was designed. For example, one property is the ability to get consistent responses over time. Another is how accurately the PROM measures how patients feel about a health problem. But researchers may not consistently report these properties in studies about PROMs.

In this study, the research team created guidance about reporting measurement properties in studies on PROM.

Organizations that fund cancer research need to decide which studies to fund. Value of information (VOI) is a way to help rank research studies. VOI estimates the value of research by looking at the impacts on health and on healthcare that could result from the research.

SWOG (formerly the Southwest Oncology Group) is a network of cancer researchers funded by the National Cancer Institute. SWOG leaders review and score new study proposals based on the scientific value of the studies and their potential impact. Based on a study's score, SWOG's leadership committee decides whether to send the study to the National Cancer Institute for funding review.

In this study, the research team wanted to learn if giving VOI data to the committee affected its scoring of proposals. The team also wanted to see if providing VOI data was helpful in deciding which studies to fund. The study had two parts. The research team created a process to quickly estimate VOI. Then, the team tested the process on nine study proposals that the SWOG committee reviewed.

Children with intellectual and cognitive disabilities often have problems with reasoning, learning, and problem solving. With such challenges, caregivers may have to make choices for their children about their health care and treatments. These children may need such help into young adulthood.

In this study, the research team wanted to find out what matters most to caregivers about their children's care. Caregivers had children with an intellectual or cognitive disability plus a mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety. The team interviewed caregivers about their preferences. Then the team used this information to design a survey. A larger group of caregivers filled out the survey.

Comparative effectiveness research compares two or more treatments to see which one works better for certain patients. This research may include randomized controlled trials, or RCTs, in which researchers assign patients to one of the treatments by chance.

A patient may enroll in an RCT when, based on current knowledge of that patient's traits, the treatments being tested have about the same chance of helping. If one treatment is known to have a better chance of helping a patient, then the patient would not enroll and would receive that treatment from the doctor.

Sometimes there isn't enough research to show if one treatment has a better chance of helping than another. In this case, researchers may use computer programs. The programs estimate how well different treatments work in patients with certain traits. For example, a person's age and pain level may affect how much a treatment helps.

These programs would be useful for patients with knee osteoarthritis. Not many RCTs have compared total knee replacement surgery with other treatments such as medicine or physical therapy.

In this study, the research team made a computer program for patients with knee osteoarthritis. It uses data from electronic health records. The program could help identify patients for whom

• The treatments in the study have about the same chance of helping. These patients may wish to take part in an RCT.
• A certain treatment may help more than another. These patients could choose that treatment.

The major objective of this project was to investigate photo array composition in order to improve eyewitness identification procedures. Photo array composition involves the fillers, or known-innocent individuals that police add to a photo array so that the perpetrator/suspect (referred to as the "target" in experimental design) does not stand out. An unbiased (fair) photo array contains fillers that match the description of the suspect provided by one or more eyewitnesses. In contrast, in a biased photo array, the suspect stands out from the fillers. Another popular procedure used by police is the showup, when the suspect is presented without any fillers. This project involved all three of these procedures.

This collection contains raw and aggregated data from 12 sets of experiments that investigated different aspects of eyewitness identification, including fair vs. biased lineups, lineup size, distinctive facial features, target-filler similarity, impact of sleep on eyewitness accuracy, memory strength, number of suspects presented, impact of courtroom instructions and expert expertise, and speed and confidence of eyewitness identification. Each experiment set followed a similar general design, with variations based on the purpose and hypotheses of the specific study. United States-based adult participants recruited via SurveyMonkey were asked to complete an online experiment in which they would be presented with a crime vignette and a suspect facial image (created from a faces database), given a distractor task, and then asked to select the suspect from a lineup and rate the confidence level of their decision.

The data were provided to ICPSR in Excel workbook format (41 data files, 3 codebooks) and are available for download as a zipped package. ICPSR has not modified the files from the format in which they were supplied. Data files are organized into subfolders that are named with a short content descriptor and citation of the relevant publication. Unless noted, data files contain a "codes" sheet that explains the variables and experimental condition groups. Articles and theses/dissertations that used each dataset are available under Data-related Publications. Please refer to the ICPSR README for more information.

• Pregnancy history and outcomes
• Contraceptive use and decision-making
• Antenatal and postnatal care
• Partner involvement in reproductive health

• Control over earnings and assets
• Household decision-making
• Freedom of movement
• Digital access and autonomy

• Physical, emotional and sexual violence
• Help-seeking behaviors
• Community safety
• Support systems

• Group membership and leadership
• Social support networks
• Political participation
• Community involvement

This study examined the relationship between social preference game behavior and offender status, while testing whether this relationship was attributed to genuine prosocial preferences or confounded by individual differences in future orientation, sensation seeking, and risk-taking.

The research team administered a hypothetical crime scenario (assault), which allowed for the experimental manipulation of certain key situational and contextual characteristics (e.g., rewards, peers) and framing considerations. The scenarios were crafted to be realistic for both the offender and non-offender respondents.

The research team collected specific measures of parameters of the offender utility function, including measures of risk preferences, items that measure their discount rate and preferences for immediate vs. delayed rewards and costs, the magnitude of their motivation or craving for crime, and their decision-making style (intuitive vs. cognitive). Additionally, this study includes other measures of offender preferences, including fairness and social considerations, as well as related cognitive and behavioral measures (e.g., sensation-seeking, impulsivity).

Childbirth is the most common reason for hospital admission in the United States (US) and the timing of admission influences the management and outcomes of labor, including rates of cesarean delivery. Although cesareans are life saving in emergency situations, the current prevalence and variability leads to excess risk for morbidity and mortality as well as higher health care costs in comparison to vaginal deliveries. Delaying hospital admission of women in latent labor is one of the most widely promoted strategies to reduce the likelihood of caesarean birth and its safety is established. Yet, trials of interventions that have aimed to reduce early admissions and the subsequent rates of medical intervention in labor have not succeeded. One proposed explanation is that the evaluated interventions exclusively focused on clinician assessment and diagnosis of active labor in hospital settings. The interventions did not fully account for women's recognition and response to the onset of labor, which is initially negotiated by the laboring women and members of her social network in settings outside the hospital. To develop efficacious strategies to reduce the likelihood of cesarean delivery, a qualitative understanding of why some women present early in labor and others later, and what can be done to promote timely hospital admission among medically low-risk nulliparous women is needed.

Specific Aim I: Determine the decision-making criteria and sequence of decision criteria used by women choosing either to go to the hospital or stay at home in early labor.

Specific Aim II: Determine the degree to which a symptom and labor management taxonomy accurately reflects women's experience with the recognition and response to early labor prior to hospital admission.

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This research expanded on offenders' decisions whether or not to offend by having explored a range of alternatives within the "not offending" category, using a framework derived from the concept of crime displacement. Decision trees were employed to analyze the multi-staged decision-making processes of criminals who are blocked from offending due to a situational crime control or prevention measure. The researchers were interested in determining how offenders evaluated displacement options as available alternatives. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 200 adult offenders, either in jail or on probation under the authority of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, from 14 counties. Qualitative data collected as part of this study's methodology are not included as part of the data collection at this time.

Three datasets are included as part of this collection:

• NIJ-2013-3454__Part1_Participants.sav (200 cases, 9 variables)
• NIJ-2013-3454__Part2_MeasuresSurvey.sav (2415 cases, 6 variables)
• NIJ-2013-3454__Part3_Vignettes.sav (1248 cases, 10 variables)

Demographic variables included: age, gender, race, and ethnicity.

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

Drawing on the principles of Whole Person Dementia Assessment (Mast, 2011) and Appelbaum and Grisso's (1988) decision-making model, this project developed a tool, the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS). The conceptual model for the LFDRS questionnaire integrates the measurement of contextual variables with financial capacity assessment. The purpose of the study was to establish reliability and validity of the LFDRS and to collect data on normative financial decision-making by older adults.

The researchers posited that as financial exploitation of older adults increases, investigation and prosecution of these cases remains difficult for criminal justice professionals who must balance protection of older adults with their right to autonomy; and that both under and over-protection of older adults can lead to damaging consequences. The project goal was to develop a set of new financial decision-making screening and comprehensive measures for criminal justice professionals and non-criminal justice professionals to aid in detecting and prosecuting financial exploitation of older adults. The LFDRS (described above) is meant to be used by mental health professionals, specially trained in assessment of older adults. In addition, the researchers developed a 10-item screening tool, the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Screening Scale or Short Scale (LFDSS), that was tested by multiple professionals working in diverse settings (e.g., APS workers, elder law attorneys, law enforcement personnel).

Family members are another group that are often aware of an older adult's vulnerability to financial exploitation and therefore, the researchers developed the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale -- Family and Friends version (LFDRS - Family and Friends also known as the LFDRS Informant) to allow concerned professionals to interview confidantes of older adults to help measure financial capacity of a loved one. This tool may be particularly useful for Adult Protective Services to interview multiple people regarding their concerns about an older adult.

The collection contains 3 SPSS data files:

• LFDRS-Data-for-ICPSR.sav (200 cases, 109 variables)
• LFDRS_Informant-Data-for-ICPSR.sav (150 cases, 45 variables)
• LFDSS_Screener-Data-for-ICPSR.sav (213 cases, 24 variables)

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This project, The Santa Cruz Research Partnership, was developed to document how one central coast California county probation department adopted evidence based practices (EBP) and whether the adoption of these practices reduced gender and racial/ethnic disparities. To examine how these EBP related changes have affected their department, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) completed three studies for this National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant. Specifically, NCCD: 1) completed interviews with the entire probation department staff to examine how the adoption of EBP affects the daily practices of the probation department, 2) analyzed case management system data to understand how the adoption of a probation violation graduated response grid affected outcomes for probationers, and 3) analyzed case management system data to examine why Latino probationers are more likely to have bench warrants issued against them even though they have statistically significantly lower risk levels.

The Eurobarometer series is a unique cross-national and cross-temporal survey program conducted on behalf of the European Commission. These surveys regularly monitor public opinion in the European Union (EU) member countries and consist of standard modules and special topic modules. The standard modules address attitudes towards European unification, institutions and policies, measurements for general socio-political orientations, as well as respondent and household demographics. The special topic modules address such topics as agriculture, education, natural environment and resources, public health, public safety and crime, and science and technology.

Eurobarometer 85.2 covered the following special topics: (1) trends in personal and political scenarios, (2) the Europe 2020 strategy and policy priorities, (3) the financial and economic crisis and related EU policies, and (4) European citizenship. Respondents' opinions were collected regarding their predictions for the next 12 months in several arenas, including the EU economic crisis, the Turkish Cypriot community, and the respondent's life generally. Respondents were further questioned about topics discussed amongst friends and family, priorities in establishing an energy union, and immigration concerns. Perspectives were also gathered regarding various measures intended to improve the economy, and positive aspects of European citizenship.

Demographic and other background information collected includes age, gender, nationality, marital status, occupation, age when stopped full-time education, household composition, ownership of a fixed or mobile telephone and other goods, difficulties in paying bills, level in society, and Internet use. In addition, country-specific data includes type and size of locality, region of residence, and language of interview (select countries).

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This was a two phase project designed to investigate the decision-making process of the coroner/medical examiner (CME) offices who are charged with investigating suspicious elder deaths and to pilot an intervention that augmented the decision-making process in three CME offices. In phase one, researchers collected case data from CME offices, public data on elder deaths, and interviews with CME investigators. Researchers then developed a brief screening tool, Elder Suspicious Death Field Screen (ESDFS), to be used by CME employees fielding reports of elder deaths. In phase two, the ESDFS was implemented in three counties for a six-month data collection period. An expert panel reviewed a subsample of cases to assess whether CME investigators made appropriate decisions to investigate or not.

This study is based on face-to-face interviews with Wisconsin candidates, both winners and losers in the general election, running for various offices in 1964. Half of the sample is composed of a census of all 1964 Wisconsin candidates for the United States Congress and statewide elective office. The other half is a stratified random sample of candidates for the state legislature (both senate and assembly), chosen to equal in number the number of congressional and statewide candidates. The stratification is by geography in the state of Wisconsin.

For more information on the study, including detailed sampling and method information, please refer to Kingdon, J.W. (1968). Candidates for office: Beliefs and strategies. New York: Random House.

The core of this data collection is a set of interviews with a stratified random sample of members of the House conducted during the first session of the Ninety-First Congress in 1969. Rather than asking respondents in general about how they make decisions, the interviews concentrated on some specific vote or votes that were currently or very recently under consideration. The interview sought to develop a life history of each member's decision, including the steps through which the representative went, the considerations which he weighted, and the political actors who influenced him. These interview data were supplemented by a good deal of immersion in the process: repeated conversations with staff, lobbyists, and journalists, the reading of documents, and observations of committee meetings and floor debates.

Each of the sampled members was interviewed several times during the course of the session on different votes. It should be emphasized that the unit of analysis is the decision, not the congressman, or in other words, the number of representatives multiplied by the number of decisions on which each was interviewed. All interviews were conducted face-to-face in Washington D.C. in 1969. To minimize recall deficiencies, respondents were interviewed at the time of the vote or within the following few days.

For more information on the study, including detailed sampling and method information, please refer to Kingdon, J.W. (1989). Congressman's voting decisions. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

The National Survey of Medical Decisions (the DECISIONS study) was a random-digit dial telephone survey of 3,010 adults over the age of 40 in the United States conducted between November 2006 and May 2007. Participants were asked a series of screening questions to identify which of ten common medical decisions they may have discussed with their health care providers in the previous two years and then completed two to three question modules regarding specific decisions that were relevant to each individual.

Funded by a grant from the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making (Boston, MA), the DECISIONS study is a unique data source which enables consideration of a wide variety of research questions related to when and how older adults manage the medical decisions they face. The initial screening module gathered highly generalizeable data regarding the prevalence of different types of common medical decisions in the experience of older Americans. The dynamically-administered modules then requested detailed information regarding how and when patients discuss key medical decisions with their health care providers, and whether variations in decision-making processes may have influenced patients' medical care.