Publications by authors named "Nathan Dodds"

Background: Mindfulness meditation is ubiquitous in health care, education, and communities at large. Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) are the focus of hundreds of NIH-funded trials given the myriad health benefits associated with this practice across multiple populations. Notwithstanding, significant gaps exist in how mindfulness concepts are measured using currently available self-report instruments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Healing Encounters and Attitudes Lists (HEALs) patient-reported measures, consisting of 6 separate context factor questionnaires, predict patients' pain improvements. Our Patient-centered Outcomes Research Initiative-funded implementation project demonstrated success in using HEAL data during clinic consultations to enhance patient engagement, improve patient outcomes, and reduce opioid prescribing.

Objective: We aimed to determine the resources needed for additional sites to implement HEAL to improve pain care treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We previously developed a three-item screener for identifying respondents with any personality disorder (PD) using the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP). The current goal was to examine the convergent validity of the IIP-3 with other PD screeners and diagnostic tools and to investigate its relationship to measures of adult attachment and emotion regulation. The sample consisted of participants from five studies (total = 852), with data from collateral informants available for a subsample (N = 353).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Formative evaluation, a rigorous assessment process to identify potential and actual influences on the implementation process, is a necessary first step prior to launching any implementation effort. Without formative evaluation, intervention studies may fail to translate into meaningful patient care or public health outcomes or across different contexts. Formative evaluation usually consists of qualitative methods, but may involve quantitative or mixed methods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To encourage screening for personality disorders (PDs), we developed (in previous work) self-report scales for PDs using the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP). The combined score from three of the scales-inter-personal sensitivity, interpersonal ambivalence, and aggression-requiring 15 items (IIP-15) did the best job of distinguishing between respondents with any versus no PD. The goals for the present work were (a) to cross-validate the IIP-15 by examining its performance using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses in a new sample ( = 410), and (b) to investigate the utility of a brief three-item variant (IIP-3).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The content and wording of the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function and Pain Interference item banks have not been qualitatively assessed by individuals with knee joint impairments. The purpose of this investigation was to identify items in the PROMIS Physical Function and Pain Interference Item Banks that are irrelevant, unclear, or otherwise difficult to respond to for individuals with impairment of the knee and to suggest modifications based on cognitive interviews.

Methods: Twenty-nine individuals with knee joint impairments qualitatively assessed items in the Pain Interference and Physical Function Item Banks in a mixed-methods cognitive interview.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) includes five item banks for alcohol use. There are limited data, however, regarding their validity (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the responsiveness to change of the PROMIS negative affect measures (depression, anxiety, and anger) using longitudinal data collected in six chronic health conditions.

Study Design And Setting: Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), back pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic heart failure (CHF), and cancer completed PROMIS negative affect instruments as computerized adaptive test or as fixed-length short form at baseline and a clinically relevant follow-up interval. Participants also completed global ratings of health.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Through extensive item analysis, 25 items were initially selected for testing, leading to a final calibrated bank of 22 items that measure abuse severity based on user responses over three months.
  • * The results indicated that the tool is effective, offering valuable information across varying levels of abuse severity and supporting its use in both computerized testing and shorter forms for practical applications in healthcare settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on creating reliable tools, called Healing Encounters and Attitudes Lists (HEAL), to measure nonspecific factors like patient attitudes that impact healthcare outcomes.
  • Researchers utilized a comprehensive method, gathering input from patients and clinicians, along with extensive literature reviews, to develop a large item pool which was refined to 296 items for testing.
  • Five final item banks were established covering various aspects of healthcare interactions, and initial validation suggests these tools can effectively measure factors influencing treatment experiences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Two item banks for substance use were developed as part of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS(®)): severity of substance use and positive appeal of substance use.

Methods: Qualitative item analysis (including focus groups, cognitive interviewing, expert review, and item revision) reduced an initial pool of more than 5300 items for substance use to 119 items included in field testing. Items were written in a first-person, past-tense format, with 5 response options reflecting frequency or severity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Our work as a primary research site of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®), combined with support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, allowed us to evaluate the real-world applicability and acceptability of PROMIS measures in an addiction medicine setting.

Methods: As part of a 3-month prospective observational study, 225 outpatients at a substance abuse treatment clinic completed PROMIS item banks for alcohol use (as well as 15 additional item banks from 8 other PROMIS domains, including emotional distress, sleep, and pain), with assessments at intake, 1-month follow-up, and 3-month follow-up. A subsample of therapists and their patients completed health domain importance ratings and qualitative interviews to elicit feedback regarding the content and format of the patients' assessment results.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is an NIH Roadmap initiative devoted to developing better measurement tools for assessing constructs relevant to the clinical investigation and treatment of all diseases-constructs such as pain, fatigue, emotional distress, sleep, physical functioning, and social participation. Following creation of item banks for these constructs, our priority has been to validate them, most often in short-term observational studies. We report here on a three-month prospective observational study with depressed outpatients in the early stages of a new treatment episode (with assessments at intake, one-month follow-up, and three-month follow-up).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The declining success rate of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant applications highlights the need for interdisciplinary work within a large, diverse department to improve chances of federal funding success. The authors demonstrate how systematic peer review promotes two goals: enhancing the quality of research proposals and cultivating a collaborative departmental culture.

Methods: Changes to the Research Review Committee (RRC) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh were instituted to accommodate the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of grant applications, integrate revisions to NIH grant application processes, and incorporate advances in computer technology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We report on the development and calibration of item banks for alcohol use, negative and positive consequences of alcohol use, and negative and positive expectancies regarding drinking as part of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS).

Methods: Comprehensive literature searches yielded an initial bank of more than 5000 items from over 200 instruments. After qualitative item analysis (including focus groups and cognitive interviewing), 141 items were included in field testing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This article reports on the development of short forms from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS™) Sleep Disturbance (SD) and Sleep-Related Impairment (SRI) item banks. Results from post-hoc computerized adaptive testing (CAT) simulations, item discrimination parameters, item means, and clinical judgments were used to select the best-performing 8 items for SD and SRI. The final 8-item short forms provided less test information than the corresponding full banks, but correlated strongly with the longer forms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objectives: To develop an archive of self-report questions assessing sleep disturbance and sleep-related impairments (SRI), to develop item banks from this archive, and to validate and calibrate the item banks using classic validation techniques and item response theory analyses in a sample of clinical and community participants.

Design: Cross-sectional self-report study.

Setting: Academic medical center and participant homes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF