scholarly journals Alarm Test: A Novel Chemical-Free Behavioural Assessment Tool for Zebrafish

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruchi Jakhmola-Mani ◽  
Khyati Mittal ◽  
Deepshikha Pande Katare
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Behavioural Assessment

scholarly journals Validation of the Equine Behaviour Assessment and Research Questionnaire (E-BARQ): A New Survey Instrument for Exploring and Monitoring the Domestic Equine Triad

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Fenner ◽  
Sarah Matlock ◽  
Jane Williams ◽  
Bethany Wilson ◽  
Andrew McLean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Questionnaire Validation ◽  
Subjective Ratings ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Rater Reliability ◽  
Validity Testing ◽  
Significant Alignment ◽  
Behavioural Assessment

The Equine Behaviour Assessment and Research Questionnaire (E-BARQ) was developed to obtain quantitative data on the domestic equine triad: training, management and behaviour. It can be taken repeatedly, thus collecting longitudinal data to enable evaluation of how changes in a horse’s training and management are reflected in that horse’s behaviour over time and how these changes can impact horse welfare in the longer term. Questionnaire validation and reliability were tested by determining (a) whether an owner’s subjective ratings of their horse’s problematic behaviours or undesirable temperament traits were reflected in the questionnaire scores obtained for that horse (construct validity), (b) whether two respondents, equally familiar with a particular horse, reported comparable scores for that horse through the questionnaire (inter-rater reliability), and (c) whether the same respondent, scoring the same horse after a known interval of time, recorded similar responses (intra-rater reliability). Construct validity testing of 1923 responses showed significant alignment between owners’ reported experience of focal horses’ behaviour and those horses’ E-BARQ scores, with scores varying from 1.13 to 1.34 for ridden horse behaviour (all p < 0.001) and from 1.06 to 1.43 for non-ridden horse behaviour (all p < 0.001). Inter-rater reliability testing of ten horse–rider pairs revealed that 203 of the 215 question items were significantly aligned (p < 0.001) when tested by two independent raters. Of the remaining 19 items, four had fair alignment (ĸ = 0.174–0.316; p = 0.281) and ten items, largely related to whether the horse shows behavioural signs related to anxiety when taken away from home, did not align (ĸ = 0; p = 1). Intra-rater reliability tests showed that the responses significantly aligned on all 215 question items tested (p < 0.001). The results of these tests confirmed the construct validity and reliability of E-BARQ as a standardised behavioural assessment tool for horses.

Development of a behavioural assessment tool for use in forensic mental health services

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronwen Davies ◽  
Kathy Lowe ◽  
Sara Morgan ◽  
Hannah John-Evans ◽  
John Griffiths ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Forensic Mental Health ◽  
Behavioural Assessment

scholarly journals Open field mirror test as a tool for the assessment of visual functions in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zulfiqah Sadikan ◽  
Nurul Alimah Abdul Nasir ◽  
Igor Iezhitsa ◽  
Renu Agarwal
Keyword(s):  
Blood Glucose ◽  
Open Field ◽  
Visual Function ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Diabetic Rats ◽  
Rodent Model ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Citrate Buffer ◽  
Visual Functions ◽  
Behavioural Assessment

To evaluate the use of mirror test in an open field arena as a visual function assessment tool in a rodent model of diabetes. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into diabetic rats, that received intraperitoneal streptozotocin (55 mg/kg body weight) for induction of diabetes, and control rats that similarly received citrate buffer. Rats with a blood glucose level of more than 20 mmol/L were considered diabetic. Blood glucose was monitored weekly throughout the experimental period. General behavioural assessment of the rats was done at week 12 post-induction using open field arena, followed by visual-behavioural assessment with mirror and reversed mirror added in the arena. Subsequently, rats were euthanised and subjected to haematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E) staining to assess changes in retinal morphology. In the open field test, diabetic rats showed a lesser number of zone crossings (3.73-fold, p<0.001), total distance travelled (2.02-fold, p<0.001), number of rearing episodes (2.22-fold, p<0.001) and number of grooming episodes (4.33-fold, p<0.01) but a greater number of freezing episodes (2.47-fold, p<0.001) and number of the faecal pellet (4.17-fold, p<0.01) compared to control rats. Control rats spent more time with higher zone entries toward mirrored than non-mirrored and reversed mirror zones (p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively), whereas diabetic rats showed no preference for zones.  Normal rats also showed higher freezing episodes within the mirrored zone compared to diabetic rats (2.00-fold, p<0.05). The retinal morphometry showed significant thinning of various retinal layers in the diabetic group compared to control rats. Visual behavioural activities of diabetic rats in an open field arena with the presence of a mirror could detect the presence of visual loss. Changes in visual functions positively correlated with changes in retinal morphology. Therefore, an open field mirror test could be used as an alternative for assessing visual function in the rodent model of diabetes.

Validity and Reliability of the Behavioural Assessment Tool for Cognition and Higher Function (BATCH) in Neuropsychiatric Patients

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 697-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Miller ◽  
Mark Walterfang ◽  
Sharan Randhawa ◽  
Amelia Scholes ◽  
Ramon Mocellin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Screening ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Neurological Patient ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Behavioural Assessment

Objective: Patients with mental health disorders frequently have difficulties with their cognitive functioning. Assessment of cognition in this population can be complicated by psychiatric symptomatology, making standard written and verbal assessment methods difficult. In these situations, observations by nursing and allied staff of patients’ routine activities provide an important source of information about cognitive ability. The Behavioural Assessment Tool for Cognition and Higher Function (BATCH) was developed to record observations of patients’ daily functioning under subheadings that reflect cognitive domains. Its capacity to provide a measure of cognitive function through observational means was assessed in a neuropsychiatric unit. Method: A consecutive sample of 76 adult neuropsychiatry inpatients were assessed over 6 months using BATCH. BATCH measures the frequency of given behaviours grouped under 10 functional and cognitive domains: orientation, attention/concentration, personal responsibility, volition, adaptation, problem-solving/judgement, executive function, memory, language, and visuospatial function. Data from routine standardized cognitive (Mini-Mental Status Examination, MMSE; Neuropsychiatry Unit Cognitive Screening Tool, NUCOG), psychiatric (Neuropsychiatric Inventory; Health of the Nation Outcome Scale) and functional (Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale; Barthel Index) instruments were collected to determine the relative contribution of cognitive function to scores on the BATCH. Results: A strong correlation was found between total BATCH scores and total NUCOG and MMSE scores. BATCH and NUCOG subdomains correlated significantly in all subscales. BATCH demonstrated very high internal consistency. Linear regression analysis showed that the strongest determinant of BATCH scores was cognitive function as measured on the NUCOG. A significant subscale×group effect showed lower BATCH scores in memory, orientation, attention, executive function and language in dementia sufferers compared to psychiatric and neurological patient groups. Conclusion: BATCH scores correlated strongly with pencil-and-paper measures of cognitive function. BATCH provides clinicians with a means of assessing cognitive function through behavioural observation, thus enabling assessment of patients with behavioural disturbance or severe psychopathology. This tool has practical application for adult and aged clients across all observational mental health settings.

scholarly journals The contribution of qualitative behavioural assessment to appraisal of livestock welfare

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
pp. 1569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Fleming ◽  
Taya Clarke ◽  
Sarah L. Wickham ◽  
Catherine A. Stockman ◽  
Anne L. Barnes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Behavioural Assessment ◽  
Versatile Tool ◽  
Key Steps ◽  
Housing Options

Animal welfare is increasingly important for the Australian livestock industries, to maintain social licence to practice as well as ensuring market share overseas. Improvement of animal welfare in the livestock industries requires several important key steps. Paramount among these, objective measures are needed for welfare assessment that will enable comparison and contrast of welfare implications of husbandry procedures or housing options. Such measures need to be versatile (can be applied under a wide range of on- and off-farm situations), relevant (reveal aspects of the animal’s affective or physiological state that is relevant to their welfare), reliable (can be repeated with confidence in the results), relatively economic to apply, and they need to have broad acceptance by all stakeholders. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) is an integrated measure that characterises behaviour as a dynamic, expressive body language. QBA is a versatile tool requiring little specialist equipment suiting application to in situ assessments that enables comparative, hypothesis-driven evaluation of various industry-relevant practices. QBA is being increasingly used as part of animal welfare assessments in Europe, and although most other welfare assessment methods record ‘problems’ (e.g. lameness, injury scores, and so on), QBA can capture positive aspects of animal welfare (e.g. positively engaged with their environment, playfulness). In this viewpoint, we review the outcomes of recent QBA studies and discuss the potential application of QBA, in combination with other methods, as a welfare assessment tool for the Australian livestock industries.

Age Norms for Auditory-Perceptual Neurophonetic Parameters: A Prerequisite for the Assessment of Childhood Dysarthria

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1082
Author(s):  
Theresa Schölderle ◽  
Elisabet Haas ◽  
Wolfram Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Age Norms ◽  
Elementary School Age ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Computer Based

Purpose The aim of this study was to collect auditory-perceptual data on established symptom categories of dysarthria from typically developing children between 3 and 9 years of age, for the purpose of creating age norms for dysarthria assessment. Method One hundred forty-four typically developing children (3;0–9;11 [years;months], 72 girls and 72 boys) participated. We used a computer-based game specifically designed for this study to elicit sentence repetitions and spontaneous speech samples. Speech recordings were analyzed using the auditory-perceptual criteria of the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales, a standardized German assessment tool for dysarthria in adults. The Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (scales and features) cover clinically relevant dimensions of speech and allow for an evaluation of well-established symptom categories of dysarthria. Results The typically developing children exhibited a number of speech characteristics overlapping with established symptom categories of dysarthria (e.g., breathy voice, frequent inspirations, reduced articulatory precision, decreased articulation rate). Substantial progress was observed between 3 and 9 years of age, but with different developmental trajectories across different dimensions. In several areas (e.g., respiration, voice quality), 9-year-olds still presented with salient developmental speech characteristics, while in other dimensions (e.g., prosodic modulation), features typically associated with dysarthria occurred only exceptionally, even in the 3-year-olds. Conclusions The acquisition of speech motor functions is a prolonged process not yet completed with 9 years. Various developmental influences (e.g., anatomic–physiological changes) shape children's speech specifically. Our findings are a first step toward establishing auditory-perceptual norms for dysarthria in children of kindergarten and elementary school age. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12133380

Exploring the Validity and Operational Impact of Using Allied Health Assistants to Conduct Dysphagia Screening for Low-Risk Patients Within the Acute Hospital Setting

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1944-1955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Schwarz ◽  
Elizabeth C. Ward ◽  
Petrea Cornwell ◽  
Anne Coccetti ◽  
Pamela D'Netto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
False Negatives ◽  
Exact Agreement ◽  
Risk Patients ◽  
Impact Phase ◽  
Operational Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the agreement between allied health assistants (AHAs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when completing dysphagia screening for low-risk referrals and at-risk patients under a delegation model and (b) the operational impact of this delegation model. Method All AHAs worked in the adult acute inpatient settings across three hospitals and completed training and competency evaluation prior to conducting independent screening. Screening (pass/fail) was based on results from pre-screening exclusionary questions in combination with a water swallow test and the Eating Assessment Tool. To examine the agreement of AHAs' decision making with SLPs, AHAs ( n = 7) and SLPs ( n = 8) conducted an independent, simultaneous dysphagia screening on 51 adult inpatients classified as low-risk/at-risk referrals. To examine operational impact, AHAs independently completed screening on 48 low-risk/at-risk patients, with subsequent clinical swallow evaluation conducted by an SLP with patients who failed screening. Results Exact agreement between AHAs and SLPs on overall pass/fail screening criteria for the first 51 patients was 100%. Exact agreement for the two tools was 100% for the Eating Assessment Tool and 96% for the water swallow test. In the operational impact phase ( n = 48), 58% of patients failed AHA screening, with only 10% false positives on subjective SLP assessment and nil identified false negatives. Conclusion AHAs demonstrated the ability to reliably conduct dysphagia screening on a cohort of low-risk patients, with a low rate of false negatives. Data support high level of agreement and positive operational impact of using trained AHAs to perform dysphagia screening in low-risk patients.

Measuring “Language Access Profiles” in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children With the DHH Language Exposure Assessment Tool

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Hall ◽  
Stephanie De Anda
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Communication Mode ◽  
Developmental Potential ◽  
Language Access ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

Purpose The purposes of this study were (a) to introduce “language access profiles” as a viable alternative construct to “communication mode” for describing experience with language input during early childhood for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children; (b) to describe the development of a new tool for measuring DHH children's language access profiles during infancy and toddlerhood; and (c) to evaluate the novelty, reliability, and validity of this tool. Method We adapted an existing retrospective parent report measure of early language experience (the Language Exposure Assessment Tool) to make it suitable for use with DHH populations. We administered the adapted instrument (DHH Language Exposure Assessment Tool [D-LEAT]) to the caregivers of 105 DHH children aged 12 years and younger. To measure convergent validity, we also administered another novel instrument: the Language Access Profile Tool. To measure test–retest reliability, half of the participants were interviewed again after 1 month. We identified groups of children with similar language access profiles by using hierarchical cluster analysis. Results The D-LEAT revealed DHH children's diverse experiences with access to language during infancy and toddlerhood. Cluster analysis groupings were markedly different from those derived from more traditional grouping rules (e.g., communication modes). Test–retest reliability was good, especially for the same-interviewer condition. Content, convergent, and face validity were strong. Conclusions To optimize DHH children's developmental potential, stakeholders who work at the individual and population levels would benefit from replacing communication mode with language access profiles. The D-LEAT is the first tool that aims to measure this novel construct. Despite limitations that future work aims to address, the present results demonstrate that the D-LEAT represents progress over the status quo.

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