Dans le domaine de la santé, la mesure d'utilité permet d'exprimer la valeur que peut donner un individu à un état de santé, comprise généralement entre 0 (la mort) et 1 (meilleur état de santé envisageable). L'utilité permet de valoriser simultanément le résultat clinique et son impact sur l'état de santé du patient, et d'exprimer ainsi la qualité de vie liée à la santé. Nous nous sommes intéressés dans ce travail à l'approche indirecte d'estimation d'utilité, consistant à dériver une utilité à partir des échelles psychométriques de mesure de l'état de santé (questionnaires génériques). Cette approche permet de répéter la mesure de l'utilité dans le temps et ouvre des perspectives pour l'analyse du changement d'utilité. Les objectifs étaient de définir un seuil de changement pour l'utilité dérivée des instruments de mesure psychométrique de la qualité de vie, et de prendre en compte dans l'interprétation du seuil la présence des comorbidités ou d'un phénomène de response-shift. Afin de répondre à nos objectifs, nous avons étudié, d'une part, le changement d'utilité mesurée par le SF-6D dans une cohorte de patients atteints d'arthrose des membres inférieurs (cohorte KHOALA) et l'effet des comorbidités sur l'utilité et son changement. D'autre part, nous avons estimé l'utilité de donneur vivant de rein à partir des questionnaires EQ-5D et SF-6D avant et 3 mois après le prélèvement du rein. Un seuil de changement a été estimé et un phénomène de response-shift a été recherché. Les résultats ont montré l'effet délétère des comorbidités sur la mesure de l'utilité chez les patients atteints d'arthrose, et mis en évidence l'importance de la sévérité fonctionnelle de l'arthrose dans l'expression de l'utilité et son changement. Chez les donneurs vivants de rein nous avons mis en évidence une diminution significative de l'utilité à 3 mois, avec une proportion de plus de 30% de donneurs ayant atteint le seuil de détérioration significative. L'estimation du seuil de changement diffère selon la population étudiée, l'instrument de mesure de l'utilité, et la méthodologie appliquée pour définir ce seuil. En conclusion, l'évaluation du changement d'utilité doit tenir compte de l'existence des comorbidités ainsi que de l'adaptation du jugement de valeur que l'individu porte sur son état de santé lorsque celui-ci évolue. La complexité des méthodes psychométriques pour la mesure de l'utilité doit amener à être prudent sur leur prise en compte dans les modèles d'évaluation économique. L'identification d'un seuil pour l'interprétation du changement peut être un élément complémentaire utile dans la démarche d'analyse décisionnelle / In health economic, the concept of utility was used to describe a state of health in patients. The unit value of health state utility ranges between 0, representing "death" state, and 1 representing a "perfect" health state. It is possible to recover through the measurement of utility both the clinical outcome and their impact on the health of the patient, and thus express the quality of life related to health. In this work, we used the indirect approach for estimating utility that is derived from a generic utility scales (quality of life questionnaires). The objectives of this thesis were to define a threshold of change for the utility derived from psychometric instruments measuring quality of life, and to take into account for the change interpretation, the presence of comorbidities or a response-shift phenomenon. We used data from a cohort of patients with osteoarthritis of lower limbs (KHOALA cohort) for estimate the impact of comorbidities in utility measured by the SF-6D its change over 3 years. We are also interested in the particular case of living kidney donors. The utility was estimated by the EQ-5D and SF-6D before and 3 months after kidney donation. A threshold of significant deterioration has been estimated and the presence of a response-shift phenomenon was controlled. The results showed the deleterious effect of comorbidities on utility measurement for patients with lower limbs osteoarthritis, and highlighted the importance of the functional severity of osteoarthritis in the expression of utility and its change over time. Living kidney donors experienced a significant decrease in their utility score in the short term, and more than third of donors have reached the threshold of significant deterioration. The threshold of utility change varies depending on the population studied, the measurement instrument, and the methodology used to define the threshold. In conclusion, the assessment of utility change must take into account the existence of other diseases and the adaptation of the individual on his health state variation. The complexity of measuring individual preferences by psychometric instruments should lead to be careful about introducing them in the economic evaluation. The use of a threshold for the interpretation of utility change can be an additional element in the decision-making process

An exploratory study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between personality preference groupings, as described by Jung’s (1959) type theory, and emotional intelligence, as measured by Bar-On’s emotional intelligence quotient (Bar-On, 1997). The sample group consisted of 1 121 recruitment candidates for a South African investment bank. The sixteen personality types, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, were represented in the sample. The statistical analysis conducted for this study included comparison of means, correlation analysis and analysis of variance. The results indicated statistically significant relationships between the preferences of Extroversion, Judgement, their combined preference grouping and emotional intelligence. No statistically significant relationships were found between the preference groupings of Intuition and Thinking, Sensing and Thinking, Intuition and Feeling, and Sensing and Feeling. The preferred Feeling preference type consistently scored the lowest in terms of emotional intelligence scores. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology

Psychometric testing is becoming more influential in the recruitment and development of individuals within the corporate environment globally, with over 80% of Fortune 500 companies in the USA and over 75% of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK using psychometric testing, the same trend is emerging in South Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between an individual’s preferred behavioural approach on various behavioural dimensions and the manner in which they complete a psychometric measure, more specifically, a learning potential measure within the corporate environment, as an individual’s preferred behavioural approach may act as a biasing factor with regard to the result that they obtain. A causal research design was utilised and two psychometric measures used to respectively determine an individual’s preferred behavioural style and learning potential. The sample consisted of 398 economically active adult candidates in either a development or recruitment assessment centre. Both the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) and Test for Selection and Training (TST) were administered on these 398 individuals. Statistical analysis was carried out on the test results with the use of SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The reliability and validity of the measuring instruments was also ascertained and found acceptable. Descriptive statistics, contingency tables, significant differences, t-test statistics and p-values were used to analyse the data. These statistical methods were used to indicate if a relationship exists. The results indicate that various behavioural dimensions, (Dominance, Influence and Steadiness) amongst individuals within the South African Corporate environment do have an impact on how they complete a learning potential measure, when consideration is given to the speed and accuracy with which they complete such a measure. Recommendations for the organisation and future research were made. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Psychology)

An exploratory study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between personality preference groupings, as described by Jung’s (1959) type theory, and emotional intelligence, as measured by Bar-On’s emotional intelligence quotient (Bar-On, 1997). The sample group consisted of 1 121 recruitment candidates for a South African investment bank. The sixteen personality types, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, were represented in the sample. The statistical analysis conducted for this study included comparison of means, correlation analysis and analysis of variance. The results indicated statistically significant relationships between the preferences of Extroversion, Judgement, their combined preference grouping and emotional intelligence. No statistically significant relationships were found between the preference groupings of Intuition and Thinking, Sensing and Thinking, Intuition and Feeling, and Sensing and Feeling. The preferred Feeling preference type consistently scored the lowest in terms of emotional intelligence scores. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology

Psychometric testing is becoming more influential in the recruitment and development of individuals within the corporate environment globally, with over 80% of Fortune 500 companies in the USA and over 75% of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK using psychometric testing, the same trend is emerging in South Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between an individual’s preferred behavioural approach on various behavioural dimensions and the manner in which they complete a psychometric measure, more specifically, a learning potential measure within the corporate environment, as an individual’s preferred behavioural approach may act as a biasing factor with regard to the result that they obtain. A causal research design was utilised and two psychometric measures used to respectively determine an individual’s preferred behavioural style and learning potential. The sample consisted of 398 economically active adult candidates in either a development or recruitment assessment centre. Both the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) and Test for Selection and Training (TST) were administered on these 398 individuals. Statistical analysis was carried out on the test results with the use of SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The reliability and validity of the measuring instruments was also ascertained and found acceptable. Descriptive statistics, contingency tables, significant differences, t-test statistics and p-values were used to analyse the data. These statistical methods were used to indicate if a relationship exists. The results indicate that various behavioural dimensions, (Dominance, Influence and Steadiness) amongst individuals within the South African Corporate environment do have an impact on how they complete a learning potential measure, when consideration is given to the speed and accuracy with which they complete such a measure. Recommendations for the organisation and future research were made. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Psychology)