The baseline demographic characteristics for the individual stud

The baseline demographic characteristics for the individual studies and the pooled population are described in Table ​Table11. Table 1 Baseline demographic characteristics

Outcomes The CAPS-SX17 was the primary outcome measure for both studies. The CAPS-SX17 is a rating scale based on the 17 PTSD symptoms Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical described in DSM-IV (Table ​(Table2),2), which includes three clusters or subscales (i.e., reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyperarousal). Table 2 DSM-IV/CAPS-SX17 PTSD symptom clusters (the prespecified three-factor structure) Statistical analysis Factor analyses These factor analyses were performed using baseline data collected prior to treatment administration, which allowed for the pooling of the venlafaxine ER and placebo treatment arms of both studies. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Additionally, separate analyses of each individual study were conducted as a means of cross-validation. An initial confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using the prespecified three-factor structure

described in the DSM-IV to determine whether the current data fit this structure. If the data did not fit, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was planned to identify symptoms that cluster in this population and to assess how these factors respond Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to treatment. The CFA was performed using a maximum check details likelihood factor extraction method for normally distributed data and a weighted least-squares Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical factor extraction method for categorical data; two methods were used to see if similar factors were extracted with both methods. These CFA models used Hu and Bentler’s (1999) recommendation of a combination of two goodness-of-fit

indexes (Hu and Bentler 1999). This combination included a noncentrality-based index such as a root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) to indicate the amount of unexplained variance with a criteria of <0.60, and a relative Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical fit index, such as Bentler–Bonett Non-normed Index that has a penalty for adding parameters with a criteria of >0.90 for acceptable fit. The EFA was performed using a Calpain polychoric correlation covariance matrix; a technique for estimating correlations among theorized normally distributed continuous latent variables from observed ordinal variables. A sensitivity analysis was conducted that used the Pearson correlation matrix. The maximum likelihood extraction method was used to extract the factors, and an oblique, promax factor rotation method was used to allow for correlated factors. The maximum likelihood factor extraction method, which provides statistical testing (i.e., goodness of fit for the model, significance testing of factor loadings), is best for relatively normally distributed data (Fabrigar et al. 1997).

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