Browsing by Subject "Cross-Cultural Comparison"
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Item Open Access Cross-cultural variability of component processes in autobiographical remembering: Japan, Turkey, and the USA.(Memory, 2007-07) Rubin, David C; Schrauf, Robert W; Gulgoz, Sami; Naka, MakikoAlthough the underlying mechanics of autobiographical memory may be identical across cultures, the processing of information differs. Undergraduates from Japan, Turkey, and the USA rated 30 autobiographical memories on 15 phenomenological and cognitive properties. Mean values were similar across cultures, with means from the Japanese sample being lower on most measures but higher on belief in the accuracy of their memories. Correlations within individuals were also similar across cultures, with correlations from the Turkish sample being higher between measures of language and measures of recollection and belief. For all three cultures, in multiple regression analyses, measures of recollection were predicted by visual imagery, auditory imagery, and emotions, whereas measures of belief were predicted by knowledge of the setting. These results show subtle cultural differences in the experience of remembering.Item Open Access Do You Want to Hear the Bad News? The Value of Diagnostic Tests for Alzheimer's Disease.(Value Health, 2016-01) Mühlbacher, Axel; Johnson, F Reed; Yang, Jui-Chen; Happich, Michael; Belger, MarkOBJECTIVE: The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains difficult. Lack of diagnostic certainty or possible distress related to a positive result from diagnostic testing could limit the application of new testing technologies. The objective of this paper is to quantify respondents' preferences for obtaining AD diagnostic tests and to estimate the perceived value of AD test information. METHODS: Discrete-choice experiment and contingent-valuation questions were administered to respondents in Germany and the United Kingdom. Choice data were analyzed by using random-parameters logit. A probit model characterized respondents who were not willing to take a test. RESULTS: Most respondents indicated a positive value for AD diagnostic test information. Respondents who indicated an interest in testing preferred brain imaging without the use of radioactive markers. German respondents had relatively lower money-equivalent values for test features compared with respondents in the United Kingdom. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents preferred less invasive diagnostic procedures and tests with higher accuracy and expressed a willingness to pay up to €700 to receive a less invasive test with the highest accuracy.Item Open Access Relational Mobility Predicts Faster Spread of COVID-19: A 39-Country Study.(Psychological science, 2020-10) Salvador, Cristina E; Berg, Martha K; Yu, Qinggang; San Martin, Alvaro; Kitayama, ShinobuIt has become increasingly clear that COVID-19 is transmitted between individuals. It stands to reason that the spread of the virus depends on sociocultural ecologies that facilitate or inhibit social contact. In particular, the community-level tendency to engage with strangers and freely choose friends, called relational mobility, creates increased opportunities to interact with a larger and more variable range of other people. It may therefore be associated with a faster spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Here, we tested this possibility by analyzing growth curves of confirmed cases of and deaths due to COVID-19 in the first 30 days of the outbreaks in 39 countries. We found that growth was significantly accelerated as a function of a country-wise measure of relational mobility. This relationship was robust either with or without a set of control variables, including demographic variables, reporting bias, testing availability, and cultural dimensions of individualism, tightness, and government efficiency. Policy implications are also discussed.Item Open Access Sex differences in health and mortality in Moscow and Denmark.(Eur J Epidemiol, 2014-04) Oksuzyan, A; Shkolnikova, M; Vaupel, JW; Christensen, K; Shkolnikov, VMIn high income countries females outlive men, although they generally report worse health, the so-called male-female health-survival paradox. Russia has one of the world's largest sex difference in life expectancy with a male disadvantage of more than 10 years. We compare components of the paradox between Denmark and Moscow by examining sex differences in mortality and several health measures. The Human Mortality Database and the Russian Fertility and Mortality Database were used to examine sex differences in all-cause death rates in Denmark, Russia, and Moscow in 2007-2008. Self-reported health data were obtained from the Study of Middle-Aged Danish Twins (n = 4,314), the Longitudinal Study of Aging Danish Twins (n = 4,731), and the study of Stress, Aging, and Health in Russia (n = 1,800). In both Moscow and Denmark there was a consistent female advantage at ages 55-89 years in survival and a male advantage in self-rated health, physical functioning, and depression symptomatology. Only on cognitive tests males performed similarly to or worse than women. Nevertheless, Muscovite males had more than twice higher mortality at ages 55-69 years compared to Muscovite women, almost double the ratio in Denmark. The present study showed that despite similar directions of sex differences in health and mortality in Moscow and Denmark, the male-female health-survival paradox is very pronounced in Moscow suggesting a stronger sex-specific disconnect between health indicators and mortality among middle-aged and young-old Muscovites.Item Open Access The normative and the personal life: individual differences in life scripts and life story events among USA and Danish undergraduates.(Memory, 2009-01) Rubin, David C; Berntsen, D; Hutson, MichaelLife scripts are culturally shared expectations about the order and timing of life events in a prototypical life course. American and Danish undergraduates produced life story events and life scripts by listing the seven most important events in their own lives and in the lives of hypothetical people living ordinary lives. They also rated their events on several scales and completed measures of depression, PTSD symptoms, and centrality of a negative event to their lives. The Danish life script replicated earlier work; the American life script showed minor differences from the Danish life script, apparently reflecting genuine differences in shared events as well as less homogeneity in the American sample. Both consisted of mostly positive events that came disproportionately from ages 15 to 30. Valence of life story events correlated with life script valence, depression, PTSD symptoms, and identity. In the Danish undergraduates, measures of life story deviation from the life script correlated with measures of depression and PTSD symptoms.Item Open Access Validation and application of a needs-based segmentation tool for cross-country comparisons.(Health services research, 2021-12) Duminy, Lize; Sivapragasam, Nirmali Ruth; Matchar, David Bruce; Visaria, Abhijit; Ansah, John Pastor; Blankart, Carl Rudolf; Schoenenberger, LukasObjective
To compare countries' health care needs by segmenting populations into a set of needs-based health states.Data sources
We used seven waves of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) panel survey data.Study design
We developed the Cross-Country Simple Segmentation Tool (CCSST), a validated clinician-administered instrument for categorizing older individuals by distinct, homogeneous health and related social service needs. Using clinical indicators, self-reported physician diagnosis of chronic disease, and performance-based tests conducted during the survey interview, individuals were assigned to 1-5 global impressions (GI) segments and assessed for having any of the four identifiable complicating factors (CFs). We used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the risk of mortality by segment. First, we show the segmentation cross-sectionally to assess cross-country differences in the fraction of individuals with different levels of medical needs. Second, we compare the differences in the rate at which individuals transition between those levels and death.Data collection/extraction methods
We segmented 270,208 observations (from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland) from 96,396 individuals into GI and CF categories.Principal findings
The CCSST is a valid tool for segmenting populations into needs-based states, showing Switzerland with the lowest fraction of individuals in high medical needs segments, followed by Denmark and Sweden, and Poland with the highest fraction, followed by Italy and Israel. Comparing hazard ratios of transitioning between health states may help identify country-specific areas for analysis of ecological and cultural risk factors.Conclusions
The CCSST is an innovative tool for aggregate cross-country comparisons of both health needs and transitions between them. A cross-country comparison gives policy makers an effective means of comparing national health system performance and provides targeted guidance on how to identify strategies for curbing the rise of high-need, high-cost patients.Item Open Access Validation of Chichewa Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) questionnaire: A cross-sectional study.(Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi, 2019-03) Chokotho, Linda; Lau, Brian C; Conway, Devin; Wu, Hao-Hua; Shearer, David; Hallan, Geir; Gjertsen, Jan-Erik; Mkandawire, Nyengo; Young, SvenBackground
The Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) tool measures function and quality of life in patients with musculoskeletal conditions.Objective
This study aimed to translate and adapt culturally the SMFA into Chichewa, and assess its clinimetric properties.Methods
The translated Chichewa version was administered to 53 patients with musculoskeletal disorders. To assess repeatability, an additional 20 patients answered the questionnaire twice over a time interval of two weeks. Internal consistency, floor and ceiling effects, and repeatability were tested; construct validity was assessed with the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment tool (WHOQOL-BREF).Results
There was good internal consistency for both Dysfunction and Bothersome indices (Cronbach's alpha 0.90) and good construct validity between both indices with the WHOQOL-BREF. Pearson's correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for repeatability for the Dysfunction Index were 0.941 and 0.922 (95% CI: 0.772, 0.971) respectively, and 0.877 and 0.851 (95% CI: 0.629, 0.941) for the Bothersome Index respectively.Conclusion
The translated Chichewa SMFA is a valid tool for populations that speak the Chichewa language.Item Open Access Vitamin D levels and cognition in elderly adults in China.(Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2014-11) Chei, Choy-Lye; Raman, Prassanna; Yin, Zhao-Xue; Shi, Xiao-Ming; Zeng, Yi; Matchar, David BObjectives
To evaluate the association between vitamin D level and cognitive impairment in individuals aged 60 and older.Design
Cross-sectional cohort study.Setting
Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, a community-based cohort study in areas in China where the density of centenarians is exceptionally high.Participants
Individuals with mean age of 84.9 ± 12.7 (N = 2,004).Measurements
Participants' cognitive state was evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Vitamin D was measured in plasma using an enzyme-linked immunoassay.Results
The cross-sectional association between quartiles of plasma vitamin D level and cognitive impairment (MMSE score <18) was modeled using logistic regressions. Plasma vitamin D levels were lower in individuals with cognitive impairment (31.9 ± 15.3 nmol/L) than in those without (45.6 ± 19.6 nmol/L). There was a reverse association between plasma vitamin D and cognitive impairment. After adjusting for age, sex, chronic conditions, smoking and drinking habits, outdoor activities, depression, and activity of daily living limitations, the association remained significant. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for lowest versus highest vitamin D levels was 2.15 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-4.41) for cognitive impairment, and the multivariable odds ratio associated with a 1-standard deviation decrement in plasma vitamin D was 1.32 (95% CI = 1.00-1.74) for cognitive impairment.Conclusion
Low plasma vitamin D levels were associated with greater odds of cognitive impairment. Further prospective studies in Asian populations are needed to examine the causal direction of this association.