For decades, sexual expression in older adulthood was a taboo topic in the public discourse and ignored in the empirical literature. As a result of several significant sociocultural changes and medical developments as well as an increasingly older population, however, perspectives are shifting and acceptance and interest in the sexual lives of older adults is growing. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate sexual well-being in older adulthood and explore its diversity. Study 1 involved a systematic review of the literature on factors associated with the maintenance and cessation of sexual activity in adults 60 years of age and older. Data were extracted from a total of 57 studies and each was assessed for methodological quality. Surprisingly, only four factors (i.e., partner’s interest in sexual activity, past frequency of sexual activity, presence of erectile dysfunction, and partner-related illness) were consistently related, in more than one study, to whether or not older adults were sexually active. Significant variability in study results highlighted methodological caveats of the body of literature, but also the heterogeneity of older adults’ sexuality. Study 2 built upon the findings and recommendations of Study 1 and further examined diversity in sexual well-being. Sexual function and satisfaction, the absence of sexuality-related distress, breadth of sexual experience, and overall frequency of sexual activity were considered as indicators of sexual well-being. The Dual Control Model of Sexual Response (DCM) was used as the theoretical framework in this study of women 50 years of age and older. The DCM posits that sexual response depends on the relative activation of sexual excitatory and sexual inhibitory processes, two separate and independent systems. Study 2 results indicated that, independently, women’s propensities for sexual excitation and sexual inhibition were significantly associated with the majority of the indicators of sexual well-being and the directions of associations were consistent with the tenets of the DCM. The only association that proved not statistically significant was the relationship between sexual excitation and sexual distress. When examined together, sexual excitation and sexual inhibition factors significantly predicted sexual function, satisfaction, and frequency. Sexual distress was predicted more strongly by sexual inhibition factors and sexual breadth by sexual excitation factors. Partner physical and mental health and participant mental health were further identified as moderating variables of these associations. The results of Study 2 expand current knowledge regarding the DCM and its relevance to older women; sexual excitation and sexual inhibition appear to have heuristic value to better understand the variability in sexual activity and well-being in women aged 50 years and older. The results of this dissertation have important implications for the study of sexuality and ageing, perhaps most prominently in terms of highlighting the inter-individual variation in older adulthood and the conclusion that generalizations about “older adults” as a group may not be appropriate.

There is little head-to-head evidence comparing interventions available for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). This review involved a series of systematic reviews and network meta-analyses (NMAs) to evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions among patients with JIA. Outcomes were the American College of Rheumatology Pediatric 30 (ACR Pedi 30) (disease response), its six composite outcomes, pain relief, health-related quality of life, and physical and emotional functioning. There was some evidence that etanercept had greater reduction in the number of joints with active arthritis compared to abatacept for polyarticular-course JIA and that canakinumab had improved ACR Pedi 30 over rilonacept. Non-pharmacological interventions showed no significant results for efficacy but were safe overall. Most included studies were low-quality and many were excluded from analysis because of unclear reporting or no results for outcomes of interest. As more studies are conducted this will improve the estimates from the NMAs.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Canada. Significant advancements in chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer have resulted in the need for a quantitative comparison between these treatments on a relative scale. Therefore, a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials was conducted using gemcitabine, the standard treatment, as the reference comparator. Based on results from the network meta-analysis, in which optimal treatments were identified and side effects of each treatment evaluated, an Internet-based patient decision aid was developed in order to present the benefits and risks of each therapy option: (1) Best supportive care (2) gemcitabine (3) FOLFIRINOX. The objective of the decision aid was to guide patients through the decision-making process based on their individual preferences and values. The decision aid was deemed to be acceptable and feasible based on results from a pilot study conducted at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre.

Background: A compilation of high quality systematic reviews (SRs) on lifestyle factors associated with adult glioma and meningioma was developed. Methods and Materials: Phase 1 consisted of a systematic overview of existing SRs. For Phase 2, high quality SRs were incorporated in an update. Moderate or low quality SRs which had not been considered in a high quality review were eligible for a de-novo synthesis. Results: Phase 1 resulted in seven moderate to low quality reviews. From this, in Phase 2, smoking, mobile phone and hair dye use were subjected to de-novo reviews. For smoking, it was suggestive that past smokers had an increased risk. For mobile phone use, there was no overall association, however it was suggestive that ipsilateral and high cumulative call time were associated with slight increased risk. No association was observed for personal hair dye use. Conclusions: Despite these null associations, rigorous SR methods were used providing confidence in conveying these results.

Introduction: Oral mucositis is an inflammatory and frequently ulcerative side effect of cancer therapy, which has been identified by patients as the most debilitating side effect of their treatment. Mucositis is a dose limiting toxicity which exerts a substantial clinical and economic impact and negatively affects patient quality of life. The patient experience of mucositis is under-reported in the literature. To date, no interventions have been identified that have proven successful in the prevention of mucositis for patients receiving all types of therapy. Vitamin E has shown conflicting results in clinical trials. This thesis combines appraisal of the literature and empirical research,and uses lessons learned from previous studies together with the results of a feasibility study to identify a best practice model for future trials. Methods: The Cochrane risk of bias (ROB) instrument was used to assess the ROB in the studies included in the Cochrane prevention review. A sensitivity analysis was conducted after studies assessed at unclear or high risk of overall bias were excluded. A systematic review of assessment instruments was conducted which identified 50 instruments. Consideration of the appropriateness of these instruments for the use in a clinical trial for the prevention of mucositis was based on the practicality, comparability, and reproducibility, and the impact of these instruments on patients. Three of these instruments were chosen for use in a clinical trial of adults undergoing stem cell transplant. Finally, a feasibility study was designed, developed and conducted which investigated vitamin E for the prevention of mucositis in patients undergoing conditioning for bone marrow transplantation. Through lessons learned from previous studies, consultations with medical professional, the MHRA, ethics committee and suppliers, a protocol was developed for a double blind RCT. The process of gaining MHRA and ethical approval, and the repackaging of intervention and placebo products to meet MA-IMP requirements are described. Results: 130 articles were assessed for risk of bias. Only ten studies were assessed as being at low overall risk of bias. Blinding of outcome assessors and adequate allocation concealment were identified to be important considerations in the planning of future studies. Although only nine patients were recruited into the feasibility study, a number of issues affecting the design and conduct of future trials were identified. Recruitment in particular was identified to be problematic. Strategies for overcoming this problem in future trials were discussed. The methods of blinding and allocation concealment employed were found to be feasible for use in future trials. Expected adverse events patients undergoing stem cell transplantation were also reported. Conclusion: Further studies are required to investigate interventions for the prevention of mucositis. It is of upmost importance that these trials are rigorous in both their methodology and subsequent reporting in order to elicit the maximum benefit for patients taking part in clinical trials, and future patients undergoing therapy for cancer.

This thesis focuses on associations between child, parent and family emotional and behavioural adjustment and a variety of challenging experiences. The parenting role has a critical influence on child development and parenting outcomes and its importance is reflected in the content of many parenting interventions. Paper 1 provides a comprehensive literature review of the available measures of parenting self-efficacy. The measures were quality rated for their psychometric and administrative properties. The findings indicated that large numbers of available measures were developed for specific research questions and may often be used in inappropriate circumstances. The measures were clarified so that the details of the sample, content and construct validity, responsiveness and interpretability, and administrative qualities were clear. The theoretical grounding of each of the measures was emphasized and, to overcome the inconsistent and confusing terminology within this paradigm, measures of parenting self-efficacy were distinguished from measures of parenting confidence, competence and self-esteem. The paper offers a timely and comprehensive summary for researchers, clinical psychologists and healthcare professionals. Paper 2 details an investigation into the first use of an international measure in the UK. The International Parenting Survey was used to identify associations between child, parent and family adjustment difficulties, and challenging circumstances, such as childhood illness or disability, parental psychological distress or family socio-economic deprivation. A total of 696 parents, each of at least one child aged between 2- and 12-years-old, completed a series of questionnaires at one time point. The results identified that children’s difficulties are associated with greater emotional and behavioural adjustment difficulties in children, and also implicated certain aspects of the parenting role, including parental psychological distress. The discussion reflects on the use of this measure within a UK sample of parents. Additionally, the clinical implications of the study, its pitfalls and areas of future research are discussed. Paper 3 provides a critical reflection of the research process as a whole and examines the strengths and limitations of Papers 1 and 2. Personal reflections are also provided.

In this study, after-death communication (ADC) is defined as spontaneously occurring encounters with the deceased. Reported occurrences of ADC phenomena range widely among published ADC research studies, so a systematic review of 35 studies was conducted. A rubric was developed to evaluate the methodological quality; final inter-rater reliability among three raters was r = .90. Results were used to rank the studies; the methodologically strongest studies were used to arrive at best estimate answers to four research questions/subquestions: (1) How common are experiences of ADC? How does occurrence vary by gender, age, marital status, ethnicity, religious practice, religious affiliation, financial status, physical health, educational level, and grief status? (2) To what extent do ADCrs report ADC experiences to be beneficial and/or detrimental? What are the leading benefits and/or detriments? (3) What is the incidence of research studies in which the researchers mentioned that the research participants appeared mentally healthy? (4) What is the incidence of sensory modalities—for example, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic—in which ADCs occur? Best estimate results were compiled into a one-page fact sheet that counselors and others can use to educate people who seek empirically-based information about ADC.

A crescente adoção do paradigma experimental na pesquisa em Engenharia de Software visa a obtenção de evidências experimentais sobre as tecnologias propostas para garantir sua correta avaliação e para a construção de um corpo de conhecimento sólido da disciplina. Uma das abordagens de pesquisa experimental é a revisão sistemática, um método rigoroso, planejado e auditável para a realização da coleta e análise crítica de dados experimentais disponíveis sobre um determinado tema de pesquisa. Apesar de produzir resultados confiáveis, a condução de uma revisão sistemática pode ser trabalhosa e muitas vezes demorada, principalmente quando existe um grande volume de estudos a serem considerados, selecionados e avaliados. Uma solução encontrada na literatura é a utilização de ferramentas de Mineração Visual de Textos (VTM) como a Projection Explorer (PEx) para apoiar a fase de seleção e análise de estudos primários no processo de revisão sistemática. Neste trabalho foi realizada uma reengenharia de software na ferramenta PEx com dois objetivos principais: apoiar, utilizando VTM, a fase de seleção e análise de estudos primários no processo de revisão sistemática e implementar novos requisitos não-funcionais relativos à melhoria da manutenibilidade e escalabilidade da ferramenta. Como resultado foi construída uma plataforma modular para a instanciação de ferramentas de visualização e, a partir da mesma, uma ferramenta de revisão sistemática apoiada por VTM. Os resultados de um estudo de caso executado com a ferramenta mostraram que a abordagem de aplicação de técnicas VTM usada nesse contexto é viável e promissora, melhorando tanto a performance quanto a efetividade da seleção / The increasing adoption of the experimental paradigm in Software Engineering research aims at obtaining experimental evidence of the proposed technologies to ensure their proper evaluation and to build a solid body of knowledge for the discipline. One approach of experimental research is the systematic review, a rigorous, auditable and planned method to carry out the collection and analysis of experimental data available on a particular research topic. Despite producing reliable results, conducting a systematic review can be a cumbersome and often lengthy process, especially when a large volume of studies is to be considered, selected and evaluated. One solution found in the literature is the use of Visual Text Mining (VTM) tools such as the Projection Explorer (PEx) to support the selection and analysis of primary studies in the systematic review process. In this work a software re-engineering was performed on PEx with two main goals: to support, using VTM, the stage of selection and analysis of primary studies in the systematic review process and to implement new non-functional requirements related to improving the maintainability and scalability of the tool. The results were the building of a modular platform for instantiating visualization tools and, from it, the instantiation of a systematic review tool supported by VTM. The results of a case study carried out with the tool showed that the VTM approach used in this context is feasible and promising, improving both performance and the effectiveness of selection

Introdução: A litíase biliar e o consumo de álcool são as etiologias mais frequentes para pancreatite aguda (PA), sendo reportadas como responsáveis por cerca de 40 e 30% dos casos respectivamente. No entanto, no Rio Grande do Sul - BR observamos uma frequência de pancreatite aguda biliar (PAB) em torno de 77% dos casos e pancreatite aguda alcoólica (PAA) em apenas 8%. Além da possibilidade de diferenças próprias da nossa população, é possível que a incidência de PAB esteja aumentando. Objetivo: Estimar as frequências globais da PAB, PAA e dos casos considerados pancreatite aguda idiopática (PAI) em estudos publicados de 2006 a 18 de outubro de 2017. Comparar as frequências de PAB, PAA e PAI entre os estudos que realizaram revisão de prontuários individuais dos pacientes ou foram prospectivos e os que utilizaram apenas os códigos de alta hospitalar para o diagnóstico etiológico. Comparar as frequências de PAB, PAA, PAI de acordo com região geográfica da população dos estudos. Métodos: Uma revisão sistemática de estudos observacionais em Inglês, Espanhol e Português, de 2006 a 18 de outubro de 2017 foi realizada. Metanálise pelo modelo de efeitos randômicos foi utilizada para calcular as frequências de PAB, PAA e PAI globais e nos subgrupos (diagnóstico por código da alta hospitalar, diagnóstico por avaliação individualizada do prontuário do paciente, estudos dos EUA, estudos da América Latina, estudos da Europa e estudos da Ásia). Resultado: Foram incluídos quarenta e seis estudos representando 2.341.007 casos de PA em 36 países. A estimativa global para a pancreatite aguda biliar (PAB) foi 41,6% (IC 95% 39,2-44,1), seguido por PA alcoólica (PAA) com 20,5% (IC 95% 3 16,6-24,6) e PA idiopática (PAI) em 18,3% (IC 95% 15.1 - 21,7). Em estudos com diagnóstico etiológico por código de alta a PAI foi a mais frequente com 37,9% dos casos (IC 95% 35,1 - 40,8). Nos estudos que revisaram os prontuários dos pacientes a PAB foi a mais frequente com 46% (IC 95% 42,3 - 49,8). Nos EUA a PAI foi a mais frequente com 34,7% (IC 95% 32,3 - 37,2). Na América Latina a estimativa de PAB foi de 68,5% (IC de 95% 57,8 - 78,3). Na Europa, na Ásia e em 1 estudo Australiano, a etiologia mais frequente foi a PAB em 41,3% (IC 95% 37,9 - 44,7), 42% (IC 95% 28,8 - 55,8) e 40% (IC 95% 36,8 - 43,2), respectivamente. Na África do Sul 1 artigo apresentou frequência de 70,2% (IC de 95% 64,5 - 75,4) para PAA. Conclusão: A PAB é a etiologia mais prevalente da PA, sendo 2 vezes mais frequente que o segundo lugar. A América Latina apresenta uma frequência para PAB muito maior do que o resto do mundo. Grandes estudos populacionais que utilizam diagnósticos codificados e estudos americanos apresentam elevadas taxas de PA sem classificação. A importância do diagnóstico etiológico consiste no tratamento da causa para prevenção da recorrência. / Background: Gallstones and alcohol are the most common etiology of acute pancreatitis (AP) and is reported to account for about 40% and 30% of cases respectively. However, in Rio Grande do Sul - BR, we observed a frequency of acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP) around 77% of cases and alcoholic acute pancreatitis (AAP) in only 8%. Besides the possibility of differences of our own population, it is possible that the incidence of PAB is increasing. Objective: estimate the global frequency of ABP, AAP and the cases considered idiopathic pancreatitis (IAP) in published studies from 2006 to October 18 2017. Compare the frequencies for ABP, AAP and AIP among studies that performed review of individual records of patients or collected data prospectively and those using only the hospital discharge diagnostic codes for etiologic diagnosis. Compare the frequency of ABP, AAP and IAP by geographic region. Methods: A systematic review of observational studies in English, Spanish and Portuguese, from 2006 to October 18, 2017 was done. Random-effects metaanalysis was used to assess the frequency of biliary, alcoholic and idiopathic AP worldwide and to perform the analysis of 6 subgroups (hospital discharge coded diagnosis, individual patient chart review, studies from US, Latin America, Europe and studies from Asia). Results: Forty-six studies were included representing 2.341.007 cases of PA in 36 countries. The overall estimate for ABP was 41.6% (95% CI 39.2 to 44.1), followed by AAP with 20.5% (95% CI 16.6 to 24 6) and IAP with 18.3% (95% CI 15.1 - 21.7). In studies with hospital discharge coded diagnosis IAP was the most frequent with 37.9% (95% CI 35.1 to 40.8). In studies with individual patient chart review PAB 5 was more frequent with 46% (95% CI 42.3 to 49.8). In US studies IAP was he most frequent etiology with 34.7% (95% CI 32.3 to 37.2). In Latin America PAB was estimated 68.5% of the cases (95% CI 57.8 to 78.3). In Europe, Asia and one Australian study, the most frequent cause was the ABP in 41.3% (95% CI 37.9 to 44.7), 42% (95% CI 28.8 to 55.8) and 40% (95% CI 36.8 to 43.2) of the cases respectively. One study from South Africa had AAP in 70.2% (95% CI 64.5 to 75.4) of the cases. Conclusion: Gallstones are the main etiology of AP globally, twice as frequent as the second one. Latin America has a frequency for ABP much higher than the rest of the world. Large population studies using coded diagnoses and American studies show high rates IAP. The importance of the etiological diagnosis resides in treating the cause in order to prevent recurrence.

Systematic review is a type of review that identifies, assesses, and combines all the published empirical evidence on a specific topic by using explicit, systematic methods. This type of reviews often includes a meta-analysis, a statistical tool used to combine the collected data into a quantitative summary estimate. Guidance documents such as the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) were developed to improve the reporting of systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials. Systematic reviews are commonly used in the field of healthcare research and are increasingly being employed in the field of environmental epidemiology. Environmental epidemiology studies examine exposures in populations and their associations with health outcomes. This field contains several unique considerations that require a careful and critical assessment to ensure the validity of results and to make the data or information more useful for the readers. However, to our knowledge, there is currently no guidance document for conducting systematic reviews that comprehensively addresses the specific issues in this field. Therefore, the objectives of this proposal are twofold: (1) to conduct a systematic review of the currently published epidemiology systematic reviews on a specific topic (mercury exposure and children autism spectrum disorder) to identify analytical issues encountered, and (2) use the experience and other potential solution identified in the literature to develop a guidance or recommendation document for conducting systematic reviews of environmental epidemiology studies. Akin to reporting guidelines for randomized controlled trials, a reporting guideline for environmental epidemiology is anticipated to increase the clarity and transparency of publications and enhance the usefulness of systematic reviews for knowledge synthesis.