Yoxas/statistical_literacy huggingface dataset:
The 2008 Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC's) "Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada" (the "Canadian core competencies") outline the skills, attitudes, and knowledge essential for the practice of public health. The core competencies represent an important part of public health practice, workforce development, and education in Canada and internationally. However, the core competencies are considered outdated and are facing calls for review, expansion, and revision. To examine the literature on public health competencies to identify opportunities and recommendations for consideration when reviewing and updating the Canadian core competencies. This narrative literature review included 4 components: 3 literature searches conducted between 2021 and 2022 using similar search strategies, as well as an analysis of competency frameworks from comparable jurisdictions. The 3 searches were conducted in collaboration with the Health Library to identify core competency-relevant scholarly and gray literature published in English since 2007. Reference lists of sources identified were also reviewed. During the data extraction process, one researcher screened each source, extracted competency-relevant information, and categorized these data into key findings. After identifying 2392 scholarly and gray literature sources, 166 competency-relevant sources were included in the review. Findings from these sources were synthesized into 3 main areas: (1) competency framework methodology and structure; (2) competencies to add; and (3) competencies to modify. These findings demonstrate that updates to Canada's core competencies are needed and overdue. Recommendations to support this process include establishing a formal governance structure for the competencies' regular review, revision, and implementation, as well as ensuring that priority topics applicable across all competency categories are integrated as overarching themes. Limitations of the evidence include the potential lack of applicability and generalizability to the Canadian context, as well as biases associated with the narrative literature review methodology.
The 2014 NIH Physician-Scientist Workforce Working Group predicted a future shortage of physician-scientists. Subsequent studies have highlighted disparities in MD-PhD admissions based on race, income, and education. Our analysis of data from the Association of American Medical Colleges covering 2014-2021 (15,156 applicants and 6,840 acceptees) revealed that acceptance into US MD-PhD programs correlates with research experience, family income, and research publications. The number of research experiences associated with parental education and family income. Applicants were more likely to be accepted with a family income greater than $50,000 or with one or more publications or presentations. Applicants were less likely to be accepted if they had parents without a graduate degree, were Black/African American, were first-generation college students, or were reapplicants, irrespective of the number of research experiences, publications, or presentations. These findings underscore an admissions bias that favors candidates from affluent and highly educated families, while disadvantaging underrepresented minorities.
The 2019 recent Coronavirus is without a doubt one of the most complicated viruses to ever pose a threat to humanity. Numerous viral containment strategies forced sedentary behaviors and dietary changes that would-otherwise- increase the chances of acquiring non-communicable diseases. The objectives of the current study are to identify any changes in eating behaviors through the Mediterranean Diet Adherence in a sample of Egyptians throughout the COVID-19 era. A cross-sectional study was done on a sample of 205 Egyptians by an online self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included socio-demographic factors, self-reported weights and heights, a validated Arabic form of the well-known International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF), a validated Arabic version of 14-items Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS), in addition to a section assessing dietetic changes. The data was then analyzed using the SPSS version 20 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). The majority of the study sample were females (74.6%); had a high level of education (93.2%); and about 75% were married. Most of the participants were non-smokers, with around a 7% increased frequency of smoking after the COVID-19 pandemic. Fast food consumption was also reported by a major percentage of study participants (60%). Low Mediterranean Diet Adherence was found in 52.7%. Moreover, Physical Activity (PA) decreased to 61%. Moreover, there was a statistically significant increase seen in the participants' BMI as well as the number of sleeping hours (p = 0.001 and 0.043 respectively) after the pandemic. Both changed hunger sensation and any changes in physical activity were significantly associated with increased BMI (p < 0.001). A substantial proportion of the participants showed unhealthy changes in their dietary habits as well as physical activity. Consequently, this calls for urgent public health policies and interventions to guard against the consequences of such unhealthy behaviors.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic closed most Canadian public schools for six consecutive months between March and September. This paper explores possible impacts of that closure on student achievement. Longstanding research suggests that lengthy periods of time out of school generally create losses of literacy and numeracy skills and widen student achievement gaps. New American studies have attributed sizeable learning losses to the COVID-19 closures. In lieu of comparable Canadian data, this paper extrapolates from summer learning research to estimate likely shortfalls in literacy and numeracy skills. We draw on data from 14 cohorts of Ontario primary-grade students collected between 2010 and 2015 in which 3,723 attended summer programs and 12,290 served as controls. Across three plausible scenarios, we use meta analyses and OLS and quintile regression models to predict learning losses of 3.5 and 6.5 months among typically-performing and lower-performing students respectively, and achievement gaps that grow up to 1.5 years among same grade peers. After qualifying these predictions, we recommend that provincial ministries offer targeted supplementary programs during the summer and synchronous instruction in the event of future school closures.
The 2021 European Society of Cardiology prevention guidelines recommend the use of (lifetime) risk prediction models to aid decisions regarding initiation of prevention. We aimed to update and systematically recalibrate the LIFEtime-perspective CardioVascular Disease (LIFE-CVD) model to four European risk regions for the estimation of lifetime CVD risk for apparently healthy individuals. The updated LIFE-CVD (i.e., LIFE-CVD2) models were derived using individual-participant data from 44 cohorts in 13 countries (687,135 individuals without established CVD, 30,939 CVD events in median 10.7 years of follow-up). LIFE-CVD2 uses sex-specific functions to estimate the lifetime risk of fatal and non-fatal CVD events with adjustment for the competing risk of non-CVD death, and is systematically recalibrated to four distinct European risk regions. The updated models showed good discrimination in external validation among 1,657,707 individuals (61,311 CVD events) from eight additional European cohorts in seven countries, with a pooled C-index of 0.795 (95%CI 0.767-0.822). Predicted and observed CVD event risks were well calibrated in population-wide electronic health records data in the UK (CPRD) and Netherlands (ELAN). When using LIFE-CVD2 to estimate potential gain in CVD-free life expectancy from preventive therapy, projections varied by risk region reflecting important regional differences in absolute lifetime risk. For example a 50-year-old smoking woman with a SBP of 140 mm Hg was estimated to gain 0.9 years in the low risk region versus 1.6 years in the very high risk region from lifelong 10 mm Hg SBP reduction. The benefit of smoking cessation for this individual ranged from 3.6 years in the low risk region to 4.8 years in the very high risk region. By taking into account geographical differences in CVD incidence using contemporary representative data sources, the recalibrated LIFE-CVD2 model provides a more accurate tool for the prediction of lifetime risk and CVD-free life expectancy for individuals without previous CVD, facilitating shared decision-making for cardiovascular prevention as recommended by 2021 European guidelines.
The 2022-2023 American Association of College of Pharmacy Argus Commission was charged to provide guidance to schools, curriculum committees, and faculty on how to incorporate health, wellness, and health inequities stemming from climate change into pharmacy curricula. The Argus Commission does not advocate for major changes in the curriculum or standards but suggests a concerted effort across the Academy to enhance the awareness of graduating students of the potential impact of climate change on health both now and in the future. Various examples, along with recommendations and suggestions, are provided of how the impact of climate change on health is currently being integrated into curricula in member schools, as well as a list of resources faculty can use to enhance their awareness of issues related to climate change and health. The Commission was also charged to provide guidance to the American Association of College of Pharmacy regarding future fundraising and business development opportunities. Recommendations in that regard are also included in this report.
The 24-h Movement Guidelines for children recommend at least 60 min per day of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (PA), ≤ 2 h/day of screen time, and 9-11 h/day of sleep for children. Since little information is available on the 24-h Movement Guidelines in Portuguese children, this research attempts to know the proportion of Portuguese children meeting individual and combinations of these 24-h Movement Guidelines. Another aim of this study is to test sex differences in compliance with 24-h Movement Guidelines. A final sample of 1351 Portuguese children (51.4% girls, aged 7.65 ± 1.21) participated in this cross-sectional study. PA, screen time and sleep duration were parent-reported through a questionnaire. Only 3.7% of children met all three 24-h Movement Guidelines, whereas 11.9% met none. Although boys showed greater compliance with PA recommendations and girls with screen time recommendations, no significant sex differences were found in the compliance of all three 24-h Movement Guidelines. Given that 96.3% of Portuguese children did not meet 24-h Movement Guidelines, promoting these three movement behaviours in both boys and girls is crucial to encouraging positive consequences early.
The abilities to predict, explain, and control might arise out of operations on a common underlying representation or, conversely, from independent cognitive processes. We developed a novel experimental paradigm to explore how individuals might use probabilistic mental models in these three tasks, under varying levels of complexity and uncertainty. Participants interacted with a simple chatbot defined by a finite-state machine, and were then tested on their ability to predict, explain, and control the chatbot's responses. When full information was available, performance varied significantly across the tasks, with control proving most robust to increased complexity, and explanation being the most challenging. In the presence of hidden information, however, performance across tasks equalized, and participants demonstrated an alternative neglect bias, i.e., a tendency to ignore less likely possibilities. A second, within-subject experimental design then looked for correlations between abilities. We did not find strong correlations, but the challenges of the task for the subjects limited our statistical power. To understand these effects better, a final experiment investigated the possibility of cross-training, skill transfer, or "zero-shot" performance: how well a participant, explicitly trained on one of the three tasks, could perform on the others without additional training. Here we found strong asymmetries: participants trained to control gained generalizable abilities to both predict and explain, while training on either prediction or explanation did not lead to transfer. This cross-training experiment also revealed correlations in performance; most notably between control and prediction. Our findings highlight the complex role of mental models, in contrast to task-specific heuristics, when information is partially hidden, and suggest new avenues for research into situations where the acquisition of general purpose mental models may provide a unifying explanation for a variety of cognitive abilities.
The ability to access, understand, judge, and use health information is crucial for making informed decisions about health and optimal health outcomes. This secondary data analysis investigated associations between social determinants of health and Australian women's ability to access and understand health information using data from 10,652 women who responded to the 2022 National Women's Health Survey. A score (0-5) was created based on five questions assessing the participants' ability to access and understand health information, which was dichotomised into low (≤3) and high (≥4) scores. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, univariate comparisons, and multivariable binary logistic regression. Almost a quarter of the women had a low score. Non-native English speakers were approximately four times more likely to have low health literacy than native English speakers. Additionally, women without tertiary education, financially disadvantaged women, and First Nations women were almost twice as likely to have lower health literacy than other women. These findings suggest that social determinants of health decrease the capacity to access and understand health information. To reduce health inequalities, healthcare systems and health professionals must consider the factors that reduce women's capacity to access and understand health information and address the health information needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged women.
The ability to connect key concepts of biochemistry with clinical presentations is essential for the development of clinical reasoning skills and adaptive expertise in medical trainees. To support the integration of foundational and clinical sciences in our undergraduate health science curricula, we developed a small group active learning exercise during which interprofessional groups of students use clinical cases to explore the biochemistry, diagnostic strategy, and evidence-based treatment options of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM). We designed multistage learning modules consisting of (1.) low-fidelity case simulations of pediatric patients presenting with IEMs, (2.) guided group discussions on clinical biochemistry, differential diagnoses, and diagnostic strategies, (3.) oral presentations of clinical reasoning strategies, and (4.) discussion of relevant evidence-based medicine topics related to the cases. These modules Scientific Knowledge Integrated in Patient Presentations (SKIPPs) were added to a first-semester foundational sciences course serving five health professions programs. The assessment of learning outcomes by students and faculty shows that SKIPPs sessions are well-received activities that significantly improve trainees' ability to integrate foundational science concepts into clinical scenarios, to practice interprofessional teamwork and to develop clinical reasoning skills.
The ability to form relational categories for objects that share few features in common is a hallmark of human cognition. For example, anything that can play a preventative role, from a boulder to poverty, can be a "barrier." However, neurobiological research has focused solely on how people acquire categories defined by features. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study examines how relational and feature-based category learning compare in well-matched learning tasks. Using a computational model-based approach, we observed a cluster in left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (rlPFC) that tracked quantitative predictions for the representational distance between test and training examples during relational categorization. Contrastingly, medial and dorsal PFC exhibited graded activation that tracked decision evidence during both feature-based and relational categorization. The results suggest that rlPFC computes an alignment signal that is critical for integrating novel examples during relational categorization whereas other PFC regions support more general decision functions.
The ability to give and receive feedback is a key skill to develop during predoctoral dental education, and the use of peer feedback specifically offers distinct benefits including a different understanding of material due to peers' proximity of knowledge development and assisting with overburdened instructors. However, it is unclear if peer feedback offers similar quality to instructor feedback. Dental students in two different graduation years provided quantitative and qualitative peer feedback on a case-based oral and maxillofacial pathology simulation. The data from these exercises were aggregated and analyzed to compare the quality of qualitative feedback to course examination scores. Student perceptions of peer feedback were also recorded. The mean quality of feedback was not correlated with course examination scores, though the number of times students gave high-quality feedback and received high-quality feedback was correlated with course examination scores. Student feedback overall had a lower quality than instructor feedback, though there was no significant difference between instructor feedback quality and the maximum student feedback quality received. Student perceptions of the utility of feedback were positive. While instructor feedback is more reliable and consistent, our findings suggest that in most instances, at least one peer in moderate-sized groups is able to approximate the quality of instructor feedback on case-based assignments.
The ability to interpret face-emotion displays is critical for the development of adaptive social interactions. Using a novel variant of a computational model and fMRI data, we examined behavioral and neural associations between two metrics of face-emotion labeling (sensitivity and bias) and age in youth. Youth and adults (n=44, M age=20.02, SD=7.44, 8-36) completed an explicit face-emotion labeling fMRI task including happy to angry morphed face-emotions. A drift diffusion model was applied to choice and reaction time distributions to examine sensitivity and bias in interpreting face-emotions. Model fit and reliability of parameters were assessed on adult data (n=42). Linear and quadratic slopes modeled brain activity associated with dimensions of face-emotion valence and ambiguity during interpretation. Behaviorally, age was associated with sensitivity. Age related to more pronounced neural responses to ambiguity in the bilateral anterior insula. Associations between sensitivity and bias metrics and activation patterns indicated that systems encoding face-emotion valence and ambiguity both contribute to the ability to discriminate face-emotions. The current study provides evidence for age-related improvement in perceptual sensitivity to facial affect across adolescence and young adulthood.
The ability to locate, navigate and use dementia services and information, either for oneself or in providing care for others, is an essential component of dementia literacy. Despite dementia literacy being understood to be inadequate in many settings, no validated instrument exists to measure these elements. Here we describe the development and preliminary validation of the Consumer Access, Appraisal and Application of Services and Information for Dementia (CAAASI-Dem) tool. Items were adapted from existing health literacy tools and guided by discussion posts in the Understanding Dementia Massive Open Online Course (UDMOOC). Following expert review and respondent debriefing, a modified CAAASI-Dem was administered to UDMOOC participants online. On the basis of descriptive statistics, inter-item and item total correlations and qualitative feedback, this was further refined and administered online to a second cohort of UDMOOC participants. Exploratory factor analysis identified underlying factor structure. Items were retained if they had significant factor loadings on one factor only. Each factor required at least three items with significant factor loadings. Internal consistency of factors in the final model was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. From a pool of 70 initial items with either a 5-point Likert scale (Not at all confident - Extremely confident; or Strongly agree - Strongly disagree) or a binary scale (Yes - No), 65 items were retained in CAAASI-Dem-V1. Statistical and qualitative analysis of 1412 responses led to a further 34 items being removed and 11 revised to improve clarity. The 31 item CAAASI-Dem-V2 tool was subsequently administered to 3146 participants, one item was removed due to redundancy and EFA resulted in the removal of an additional 4 items and determination of a five factor structure: Evaluation and engagement; Readiness; Social supports; Specific dementia services; and Practical aspects. The five factors and 26 constituent items in CAAASI-Dem align with functional, critical, and communicative aspects of dementia health literacy from the perspective of the carer. As a screening tool for people living with dementia and their carers, CAAASI-Dem potentially provides a means to determine support needs and may be a key component of the dementia literacy assessment toolbox.
The ability to maintain mathematical skills learned is critical for students to successfully engage in advanced mathematics and promote independence in daily living skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a graduated manipulative sequence consisting of virtual, representational, abstract, and an extended abstract phase (VRAEa) to teach various types of mathematical problems to three students with autism and mild intellectual disability using a multiple probe across behavior single case design. This study extended previous research on the virtual, representational, abstract sequence (VRA) to address deficiency in maintenance results through incorporating the extended abstract phase. The results indicate the intervention was effective, however, maintenance was variable. Implications for practice and ideas for future research to support the learning needs of students with developmental disabilities are discussed.