Biobehavioral measures as outcomes: a cautionary tale. Res Gerontol Nurs 2014;7(2):56-65
Date
10/26/2013Pubmed ID
24158972Pubmed Central ID
PMC3965632DOI
10.3928/19404921-20131018-01Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84903787233 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 4 CitationsAbstract
This article discusses the use of biobehavioral measures as outcomes for health care intervention studies. Effect size (ES) values for salivary cortisol and observation-based measures of pain and agitation were examined. Effects pre to post treatment were assessed separately for nursing home residents with and without acute psychotic symptoms. This study revealed large positive effects on both pain and agitation measures in the group with acute psychotic symptoms and small-to-medium positive effects on these same measures in the group without acute psychotic symptoms. In both of these groups, the ES values were not consistently positive on the cortisol measures. Prior to determining whether a measure can be used to estimate minimum clinically important differences, it is essential to consider if the biomarker will be responsive to therapy in the populations and contexts being studied.
Author List
Kovach CR, Woods DL, Devine EC, Logan BR, Raff HAuthors
Brent R. Logan PhD Director, Professor in the Data Science Institute department at Medical College of WisconsinHershel Raff PhD Professor in the Academic Affairs department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AgedAged, 80 and over
Biomarkers
Dementia
Female
Humans
Hydrocortisone
Nursing Homes
Observation
Pain Management
Pain Measurement
Psychomotor Agitation
