Clinically Meaningful Change

Methodology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Ferrer ◽  
Antonio Pardo

Abstract. In a recent paper, Ferrer and Pardo (2014) tested several distribution-based methods designed to assess when test scores obtained before and after an intervention reflect a statistically reliable change. However, we still do not know how these methods perform from the point of view of false negatives. For this purpose, we have simulated change scenarios (different effect sizes in a pre-post-test design) with distributions of different shapes and with different sample sizes. For each simulated scenario, we generated 1,000 samples. In each sample, we recorded the false-negative rate of the five distribution-based methods with the best performance from the point of view of the false positives. Our results have revealed unacceptable rates of false negatives even with effects of very large size, starting from 31.8% in an optimistic scenario (effect size of 2.0 and a normal distribution) to 99.9% in the worst scenario (effect size of 0.2 and a highly skewed distribution). Therefore, our results suggest that the widely used distribution-based methods must be applied with caution in a clinical context, because they need huge effect sizes to detect a true change. However, we made some considerations regarding the effect size and the cut-off points commonly used which allow us to be more precise in our estimates.

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Beige ◽  
Ralph Wendt ◽  
Despina Rüssmann ◽  
Karl-Peter Ringel

Abstract Background and Aims Incompatibility of dialysis procedure due to hypersensitivity against dialyzer material which currently is mainly based on polysulfone and derivatives can not be assessed by routine laboratory tests. Although the frequency of such symptoms is suspected to be low (below 2%) such resembles an important clinical problem because dialysis procedures are frequently accompanied by symptoms of non-tolerability with reasons not being entirely clear while circulatory reasons are suspected to play a major role. Method To enlighten the role of polysulfone hypersensitivity, we adapted known standardized material immune-toxicological tests (lymphocyte transformation test, basophil degranulation test) to the specific conditions of dialysis and polysulfone material sensitivity. We developed a method of polysulfone micronisation and measured humoral immune response of isolated patient´s lymphocytes when incubated with polysulfone dispersion. Results 39 samples from 103 patients with suspected polysulfone hypersensitivity showed positive results for type 1 (n=19), type 4 (n=18) or both type (n=2) reactions. There were no significant differences in the level of stimulation measured for DI, SI and lymphogenesis before and after dialysis (average delta -0.4; -0.28; - 1.74, p = 0.71; 0.34; 0.37) and with different dialyzer materials (Tab. 1). Patients with pos. type 4 results (LTT and lymphogenesis) showed highly correlated results in either LTT or lymphogenesis test (Fig. 1, R=0.87, p<0.0001). 8 out of 8 samples from patients with repeated test on different PS showed positive results on either PS. One patient tested positive on PS showed no hypersensitivity with another non-PS (PMMA) material. Conclusion This is the first methodological report showing plausible in-vitro results of patients samples concerning polysulfone intolerance. On the first superficial view, a “false-negative” rate of 60% looks rather disappointing, because all samples derived from patients with suspicion of PS hypersensitivity. However, due to the clinical variability of intolerance symptoms and the high prevalence of any problems after HD initiation, mainly of circulatory origin after initiating extracorporeal circuit, this rate may obviously express the true frequency of isolated PS material hypersensitivity in suspected patients. Alternative pathophysiological pathways of material sensitivity like complement activation, remain to be elucidated and incorporated into a comprehensive future testing panel. Further clinical and laboratory research is needed to define true polysulfone hypersensitivity and to enlighten the field of hypothetic subclinical material incompatibility in patients with impaired dialysis tolerability.


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Ignacio Manuel Guerrero-Martínez ◽  
Francisco Javier Portero-Prados ◽  
Rocío Cándida Romero-González ◽  
Rocío Romero-Castillo ◽  
Manuel Pabón-Carrasco ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Simulation is a part of the day-to-day of the learning method in health sciences. The objective is to determine if the clinical simulation is useful for learning in the emergency setting, from the point of view of the nursing students. (2) Methods: A pre- and post-test exploratory study with an analytical and quasi-experimental design was used. The population is made up of nursing students from the Seville Red Cross Nursing Centre, who conducted a simulation exercise in the form of a drill for the care of multiple victims. A specific questionnaire was employed as a tool to analyse the dimensions of satisfaction, confidence and motivation, clinical experience, and decision making and technical abilities. (3) Results: There were favourable significant differences in the set of global responses, with p < 0.0001 for the “satisfaction” dimension and d = 1.25 for the “large” size of the effect, and p < 0.0069 for the “confidence and motivation” dimension and d = 0.58 for the “moderate–large” size of the effect. (4) Conclusions: The results are similar to those obtained in other studies in the scope of the 4 dimensions studied, thus coming to the conclusion that the perception of the nursing students on learning through clinical simulation is positive and favourable.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 1169-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krupa Arun Navalkar ◽  
Stephen Albert Johnston ◽  
Neal Woodbury ◽  
John N. Galgiani ◽  
D. Mitchell Magee ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTValley fever (VF) is difficult to diagnose, partly because the symptoms of VF are confounded with those of other community-acquired pneumonias. Confirmatory diagnostics detect IgM and IgG antibodies against coccidioidal antigens via immunodiffusion (ID). The false-negative rate can be as high as 50% to 70%, with 5% of symptomatic patients never showing detectable antibody levels. In this study, we tested whether the immunosignature diagnostic can resolve VF false negatives. An immunosignature is the pattern of antibody binding to random-sequence peptides on a peptide microarray. A 10,000-peptide microarray was first used to determine whether valley fever patients can be distinguished from 3 other cohorts with similar infections. After determining the VF-specific peptides, a small 96-peptide diagnostic array was created and tested. The performances of the 10,000-peptide array and the 96-peptide diagnostic array were compared to that of the ID diagnostic standard. The 10,000-peptide microarray classified the VF samples from the other 3 infections with 98% accuracy. It also classified VF false-negative patients with 100% sensitivity in a blinded test set versus 28% sensitivity for ID. The immunosignature microarray has potential for simultaneously distinguishing valley fever patients from those with other fungal or bacterial infections. The same 10,000-peptide array can diagnose VF false-negative patients with 100% sensitivity. The smaller 96-peptide diagnostic array was less specific for diagnosing false negatives. We conclude that the performance of the immunosignature diagnostic exceeds that of the existing standard, and the immunosignature can distinguish related infections and might be used in lieu of existing diagnostics.


2007 ◽  
Vol 02 (02) ◽  
pp. 98-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Punke ◽  
A. L. Speas ◽  
L. R. Reynolds ◽  
C. M. Andrews ◽  
S. C. Budsberg

SummaryThe differences between velocities and accelerations obtained from three and five photocells were examined when obtaining ground reaction force (GRF) data in dogs. Ground reaction force data was collected 259 times from 16 different dogs in two experimental phases. The first phase compared velocities and accelerations reported by the two systems based on trials accepted by the three photocell system. The second phase accepted trials based on data from five photocells. Three photocell data were calculated mathematically in the second phase in order to compare the values of both systems. The velocity and acceleration values obtained from each system were significantly different (at the hundredth of a meter per second). Differences in measured values did not result in acceptance of data by the three photocell system that would not have been acceptable with the five photocell system (false positives), but did result in rejection of acceptable data by the three photocell system (11% false negative rate). Given the small differences between the two systems, GRF data collected should not be significantly different, though the three photocell system is less efficient in gathering data due to the number of trials rejected as false negatives.


2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1116-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohua Douglas Zhang

In most genome-scale RNA interference (RNAi) screens, the ultimate goal is to select siRNAs with a large inhibition or activation effect. The selection of hits typically requires statistical control of 2 errors: false positives and false negatives. Traditional methods of controlling false positives and false negatives do not take into account the important feature in RNAi screens: many small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) may have very small but real nonzero average effects on the measured response and thus cannot allow us to effectively control false positives and false negatives. To address for deficiencies in the application of traditional approaches in RNAi screening, the author proposes a new method for controlling false positives and false negatives in RNAi high-throughput screens. The false negatives are statistically controlled through a false-negative rate (FNR) or false nondiscovery rate (FNDR). FNR is the proportion of false negatives among all siRNAs examined, whereas FNDR is the proportion of false negatives among declared nonhits. The author also proposes new concepts, q*-value and p*-value, to control FNR and FNDR, respectively. The proposed method should have broad utility for hit selection in which one needs to control both false discovery and false nondiscovery rates in genome-scale RNAi screens in a robust manner.


Author(s):  
Merve Dede ◽  
Eiru Kim ◽  
Traver Hart

AbstractIt is widely accepted that pooled library CRISPR knockout screens offer greater sensitivity and specificity than prior technologies in detecting genes whose disruption leads to fitness defects, a critical step in identifying candidate cancer targets. However, the assumption that CRISPR screens are saturating has been largely untested. Through integrated analysis of screen data in cancer cell lines generated by the Cancer Dependency Map, we show that a typical CRISPR screen has a ∼20% false negative rate, beyond library-specific false negatives previously described. Replicability falls sharply as gene expression decreases, while cancer subtype-specific genes within a tissue show distinct profiles compared to false negatives. Cumulative analyses across tissues suggest only a small number of lineage-specific essential genes and that these genes are highly enriched for transcription factors that define pathways of tissue differentiation. In addition, we show that half of all constitutively-expressed genes are never hits in any CRISPR screen, and that these never-essentials are highly enriched for paralogs. Together these observations strongly suggest that functional buffering masks single knockout phenotypes for a substantial number of genes, describing a major blind spot in CRISPR-based mammalian functional genomics approaches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S605-S605
Author(s):  
Kendall N Maliszewski ◽  
Yu-Hsiang Hsieh ◽  
Deanna Myer ◽  
Danielle A Perez ◽  
Charlotte A Gaydos ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Emergency departments (EDs) serve as sentinel settings for diagnosing sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and syphilis. We aimed to assess performance and patient acceptability of a point-of-care (POC) test, the Chembio Dual Path Platform (DPP®) HIV-Syphilis Assay, in an urban ED in Baltimore. Methods 170 patients were enrolled via convenience sampling from Oct 2019 – March 2020 and Jan 2021 – June 2021. Patients eligible were &lt; 70 yrs, men who have sex with men, pregnant without care, had STI concerns, or history of drug use. Subjects received standard of care (SOC) HIV and syphilis testing under institutional laboratory algorithms. Subjects were then tested with the finger-stick POC test and completed a survey, both before and after the POC test to assess subjects’ attitudes about the POC test. Results Comparing the SOC and POC results, 165/170 (97.1%) were test concordant. 3 syphilis POC results were false negative, but reported successful treatment over 10 years prior to enrollment (treponemal antibody remains after treatment). 1 HIV result was false negative and 1 was false positive. Overall the sensitivity and specificity of the HIV POC test were 96.8% (95%CI: 83.3%, 99.9%) and 99.3% (95% CI: 96.1%, 100%), and for syphilis were 85.7% (95%Cl: 63.7%, 97.0%) or 100% (95%CI: 81.5%, 100%), if excluding 3 persons having been successfully treated, and 100% (95% CI: 97.6%, 100%) respectively. The pre-test survey found 67% and 77% of participants were comfortable with a finger-stick test and agreed the POC test result would be as good as the SOC test result, which increased to 96% and 86% in the post-test, respectively, (p&lt; 0.05). At post-test, 86% reported they would feel confident to perform this test at home and 81% would use it at least once per year if it were available. 97% reported they were more likely to seek treatment if receiving a positive result during their ED visit and 91% reported it would reduce their stress/anxiety if receiving a negative test result in the ED. Conclusion Our findings demonstrated satisfactory performance and high patient acceptability of the Chembio DPP® HIV-Syphilis Assay. Given the test is FDA approved, implementation studies are needed to determine whether adoption of this POC test will benefit patients and be consistent with ED workflows. Disclosures Richard E. Rothman, PhD, MD, Chem bio (Grant/Research Support)


1996 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 939-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cooper B. Holmes ◽  
Megan J. Beishline

Combined Verbal and Quantitative GRE scores were obtained from the records of 24 former students of a master's degree program (from a total of 128 students) who had successfully completed a doctorate in psychology or who had withdrawn from a psychology doctoral program. Success rate by classification with the GRE was calculated using both a cut-off of 1000 and a cut-off of 1100. The results indicated a high false negative rate, that is, students whose GRE scores would not predict success but who obtained a Ph.D.


Author(s):  
Ramy Arnaout ◽  
Rose A. Lee ◽  
Ghee Rye Lee ◽  
Cody Callahan ◽  
Christina F. Yen ◽  
...  

AbstractResolving the COVID-19 pandemic requires diagnostic testing to determine which individuals are infected and which are not. The current gold standard is to perform RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal samples. Best-in-class assays demonstrate a limit of detection (LoD) of ~100 copies of viral RNA per milliliter of transport media. However, LoDs of currently approved assays vary over 10,000-fold. Assays with higher LoDs will miss more infected patients, resulting in more false negatives. However, the false-negative rate for a given LoD remains unknown. Here we address this question using over 27,500 test results for patients from across our healthcare network tested using the Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 EUA. These results suggest that each 10-fold increase in LoD is expected to increase the false negative rate by 13%, missing an additional one in eight infected patients. The highest LoDs on the market will miss a majority of infected patients, with false negative rates as high as 70%. These results suggest that choice of assay has meaningful clinical and epidemiological consequences. The limit of detection matters.


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