Psychometric properties of the Beliefs About Adults with ID Scale in American physicians: Application of classical test and Rasch measurement theories.

BACKGROUND: Physicians' erroneous assumptions about individuals with intellectual disability (ID) negatively impact the quality of care provided to this population. This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Beliefs About Adults with ID (BAID), an instrument we developed for measuring physicians' erroneous assumptions about adults with ID. METHODS: Two hundred ninety-two American physicians participated. Classical test theory and Rasch measurement theory were used to refine the scale (through item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, infit and outfit mean-squares statistics, and differential item functioning) and investigate its psychometric properties (functioning of the response scale, reliability, and validity). RESULTS: The BAID provided a unidimensional, reliable, valid, and precise measure in assessing high levels of erroneous assumptions. It showed convergent and divergent validity with the different factors of a scale measuring attitudes towards ID. The BAID items were discriminant, non-redundant, unambiguous, and invariant across gender and previous ID training. The BAID response scale was found to be appropriate for measuring physicians' erroneous assumptions about adults with ID. CONCLUSIONS: BAID is a brief instrument with good psychometric properties to assess erroneous assumptions about adults with ID in physicians of different genders and who have/have not previously received ID training. Therefore, it might be helpful for research and medical education purposes.

Functional measurement in consumer evaluation of market products

Understanding which product attributes influence the most consumer evaluation is central in marketing research. In particular, comprehension of niche market has become of fundamental importance to survive in modern open markets. Functional measurement techniques have been shown to be useful in identifying the cognitive rules underlying the integration of different product attributes. Based on this rationale, an analysis on footwear and shoe market was carried out. Potential buyers of a target product were presented with different profiles created by manipulating design, brand and price, and their preferences were recorded. Functional measurement and cluster analysis techniques were employed to identify patterns in cognitive behavior (AU)

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Metastatic oligodendrogliomas: a review of the literature and case report.

Oligodendroglioma cells are detectable in the cerebro-spinal fluid in up to 14% of patients [10] and cerebellar and/or spinal cord involvement is a well known phenomenon [3]. Distant spread of oligodendroglioma is exceptional, probably due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier, the absence of lymphatic vessels and the short survival of patients. A review of the worldwide literature yielded 32 previously reported examples since 1951 to the present (Tab1e 1). This review was performed using NCBI-PubMed and "oligodendroglioma, oligodendrogliomas, metastatic, metastasis, metastases, extraneural", in different combinations, as key words and reviewing the bibliography of the consequent selected articles. New therapeutic approaches are prolonging the overall survival of patients with primitive brain tumours and in particular of those with high grade oligodendroglioma which is a chemo-sensitive disease. A longer overall survival could increase the risk of extracranial dissemination of gliomas that in the future might become a less rare clinical complication.