Do you know the Wooly Bully? Testing era-based knowledge to verify participant age online.

People in online studies sometimes misrepresent themselves. Regardless of their motive for doing so, participant misrepresentation threatens the validity of research. Here, we propose and evaluate a way to verify the age of online respondents: a test of era-based knowledge. Across six studies (N = 1543), participants of various ages completed an age verification instrument. The instrument assessed familiarity with cultural phenomena (e.g., songs and TV shows) from decades past and present. We consistently found that our instrument discriminated between people of different ages. In Studies 1a and 1b, self-reported age correlated strongly with performance on the instrument (mean r = .8). In Study 2, the instrument reliably detected imposters who we knew were misrepresenting their age. For impostors, self-reported age did not correlate with performance on the instrument (r = .077). Finally, in Studies 3a, 3b, and 3c, the instrument remained robust with African Americans, people from low educational backgrounds, and recent immigrants to the United States. Thus, our instrument shows promise for verifying the age of online respondents, and, as we discuss, our approach of assessing "insider knowledge" holds great promise for verifying other identities within online studies.

Increasing stimulus duration improves attention and memory performance in elderly with cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we investigated whether increasing stimulus duration could improve performance on a test of attention and short-term memory in cognitively impaired individuals. METHODS: A computer-generated forward digit span test was administered to 65 patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia (28 intervention and 37 controls). After point of failure, testing in the intervention group was continued at the same rate, but with an average 150% digit lengthening to 800 ms. Testing of controls was continued using the standard digit span test. RESULTS: In the intervention group, 13/28 (46.4%) improved their digit span test performance, compared to 2/37 (5.4%) in the control group (p = 0.00005). CONCLUSION: Cognitively impaired elderly participants improved performance on a test of attention and short-term memory, when stimulus duration was increased in proportion to elongation of the finger tap touch-phase previously found in a similar cohort. A possible mechanism for the effect of increased stimulus duration on attention and short-term memory is discussed.

Association between finger tapping, attention, memory, and cognitive diagnosis in elderly patients.

This study examined the association between spontaneous finger tapping and cognitive function, with a detailed analysis of the two main phases of finger tapping, the touch-phase and the off-phase. 170 elderly patients (83 men, 87 women; M age = 82.1 yr., SD = 6.2) underwent cognitive assessment including the Mini-Mental State Examination, a forward digit span test, and 15 sec. of finger tapping. Results indicated a significant increase in the length and variability of the finger-touch phase among participants with mild cognitive impairment or dementia compared to participants with no cognitive impairment, suggesting a relationship between finger tapping and attention, short-term memory, and cognitive diagnosis. Pattern classification analyses on the finger tapping parameters indicated a specificity of 0.91 and sensitivity of 0.52 for ruling out cognitive impairment.

Diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and celiac disease in an adult: one patient, two diseases, and three reminders.

This case report describes the uncommon occurrence of celiac disease and cystic fibrosis in an obese adult patient. Apart from its rarity, the case serves to highlight the elusive nature of these 2 diseases when presenting with atypical clinical features in an adult.

The SaM (Screening and Monitoring) approach to cardiovascular risk-reduction in primary care--cyclic monitoring and individual treatment of patients at cardiovascular risk using the electronic medical record.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention suffers from a major gap between clinical evidence (information) and clinical practice (implementation). Insufficient control risk factor levels and under-utilization of aspirin, statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and beta-blockers are well-known examples. METHODS: The SaM (Screening and Monitoring) approach was devised by a family physician in order to facilitate closure of this gap. It does so by providing solutions to problems in the fields of information and implementation. A simple manipulation of the electronic medical record used in the practice serves to facilitate cyclic monitoring of patients with cardiovascular risk factors. Technological and human resources available in the primary care setting are used. The approach is described in the first part of the article. The second part presents results obtained by employing the approach on one family physician's patient population. RESULTS: The final results demonstrate a marked improvement over time in risk factor levels and use of medications in accordance with indications. The values achieved are superior to those reported in the literature. Blood pressure in hypertensive patients 134/75 mmHg; haemoglobin A1c 7.27%; low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in patients with CVD or diabetes, 97 mg/dl; patients with CVD receiving anti-thrombotic medication, 94%; dyslipidaemic patients with CVD or diabetes receiving lipid-lowering drugs, 90%; post myocardial infarction patients receiving beta-blockers, 76%; hypertensive diabetics or patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) receiving ACE-inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers, 86%. CONCLUSIONS: In this one-practice pilot-study, the SaM approach was employed with marked improvement in risk factor levels and use of appropriate medications. This may translate into reductions in morbidity and mortality in a larger population.