Decision Theory

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the previous proposed Preliminary Live with Love Conceptual Framework (P-LLCF) that focuses on spousal caregiver-patient couples in their journey of coping with cancer as dyads. METHODS: A mixed-methods study that included qualitative and quantitative approaches was conducted. Methods of concept and theory analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied in testing the P-LLCF.

BACKGROUND: With publication of The Belmont Report concerning ethical principles, informed consent gained explicit guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research. However, there is still little evidence about how well informed consent works to assist patients to reach informed decisions about research participation. OBJECTIVE: To review behavioral decision theory and research to identify implications for informed consent. RESEARCH DESIGN: Traditional literature review and hand search of literature were used.

The process of conscious and unconscious decision making is analyzed using decision theory. An essential part of an optimum decision strategy is the assessment of values and costs associated with correct and incorrect decisions. In the case of unconscious decisions this involves an automatic process akin to computation using numerical values. But for conscious decisions the conscious mind must experience the outcome of the decision as pleasure or pain. It is suggested that the rules of behavior are programmed in our genes but modified by experience of the society in which we are reared.

Our aim was to improve clinical reasoning skills by applying an established theory of memory, cognition, and decision making (fuzzy-trace theory) to instruction in evidence-based medicine. Decision-making tasks concerning chest pain evaluation in women were developed for medical students and internal medicine residents. The fuzzy-trace theory guided the selection of online sources (e.g., target articles) and decision-making tasks. Twelve students and 22 internal medicine residents attended didactic conferences emphasizing search, evaluation, and clinical application of relevant evidence.

BACKGROUND: Several methodological issues with non-randomized comparative clinical studies have been raised, one of which is whether the methods used can adequately identify uncertainties that evolve dynamically with time in real-world systems. The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of different combinations of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatments and combinations of TCM and Western medicine interventions in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) by using Markov decision process (MDP) theory.