Determining the sensitivity and specificity of common diagnostic tests for carpal tunnel syndrome using latent class analysis.

Background: The accuracy of a diagnostic test used to classify a patient as having disease or being disease-free is a valuable piece of information to be used by the physician when making treatment decisions. If a standard reference test is available, determining the sensitivity and specificity of a new test is straightforward. However, if that reference test is incorrectly assumed to be perfectly sensitive and specific, the errors of the reference test can result in an underestimation of the accuracy of the test being evaluated.

How learning one category influences the learning of another: intercategory generalization based on analogy and specific stimulus information.

We investigated the effect of learning one category structure on the learning of a related category structure. Photograph-name combinations, called identifiers, were associated with values of four demographic attributes. Two problems were related by analogous demographic attributes, common identifiers, or both to examine the impact of common identifier, related general characteristics, and the interaction of the two variables in mediating learning transfer from one category structure to another.

Predicting the outcome of carpal tunnel release.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that the result of steroid injection in the carpal tunnel provides a better predictor of the outcome of later surgery. We also explored other possible factors that might predict the outcome directly or interact with the results of steroid injection to better predict the outcome.

Method: We performed a historical cohort study on 57 patients who had carpal tunnel release.

Different reference frames can lead to different hand transplantation decisions by patients and physicians.

Different frames of reference can affect one's assessment of the value of hand transplantation. This can result in different yet rational decisions by different groups of individuals, especially patients and physicians. In addition, factors other than frames of reference can affect one's evaluation of hand transplantation, which can result in different decisions.