Abstract: Current research indicates that pediatric patients experience quality-of-life (QOL) issues during recovery from concussion. However, measures of health related QOL issues in youth have generally focused on chronic illness and do not address the unique experience of brain injury. The Pediatric Life After Concussion Evaluation Scale (PLACES) was developed to gain a better understanding of youth perspectives on QOL during recovery from concussion. The PLACES is a self-rating instrument examining patient perspectives on cognition, emotion, social life, and school support. Study participants were 277 patients, receiving treatment for concussion at a single regional concussion clinic. Examination of reliability using Cronbach’s alpha indicated strong performance with internal consistency (r =.92). The Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) was used for comparison as this measure is commonly used to examine patient symptoms in clinical settings. Convergent and divergent validity of the PLACES was examined. Convergent validity was evident across the two measures (r=.732, p=.001). Exploratory factor analysis identified 5 factors and indicated divergent factors related to emotion, social concerns, and school. Analyses demonstrated that the PLACES domains measure different aspects of quality of life issues during recovery from concussion than traditional symptom scales, thereby offering support for the proposed domain structure of the PLACES. This measure appears to provide additional information that is clinically relevant and not available on symptom scales. Initial psychometrics indicate that the PLACES has the potential to function as a QOL measure specific to concussion and will assist in greater specificity of treatment during recovery.Abstract: Current research indicates that pediatric patients experience quality-of-life (QOL) issues during recovery from concussion. However, measures of health related QOL issues in youth have generally focused on chronic illness and do not address the unique experience of brain injury. The Pediatric Life After Concussion Evaluation Scale (PLACES) was deve...Show More
Abstract: Recently, a large public academic institution in the US ended its subscription to the most influential publisher of academic research. This institution was driven by the principle that scientific knowledge should not be locked up behind paywalls as the costs of publishing have grown over the years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prospects of publishing and accessing scientific knowledge from Open Access Journals (OA) and to get a general understanding of what aspects to decide on when a research scholar intends to publish in a Scopus indexed Open Access journal. OA journals are freely available with no cost on the internet. They provide unrestricted access to scientific literature to spread recent updates in various disciplines of science and technology. Method: In this study, the researcher has conducted a non-random survey in alphabetical order, 30 Open Access Scopus indexed Psychology journals for the purpose of understanding and comparing their policies and article processing charges. Result: Based on the survey, research scholars can make decisions based on which journals would be viable for publishing their articles looking at these policies. While some of the journals do not have article processing fees some of the journals charge article processing fees.Abstract: Recently, a large public academic institution in the US ended its subscription to the most influential publisher of academic research. This institution was driven by the principle that scientific knowledge should not be locked up behind paywalls as the costs of publishing have grown over the years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pr...Show More
