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Glossary of terms used in health research - O

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  • Objective improvement
    • An improvement that can be measured by the health care provider.
  • Objective response
    • A measurable response.
  • Objectives
    • The general questions the trial was designed to answer. May be associated with one or more hypotheses that, when tested, will help answer the question.
      Objectives are specific and measurable statements regarding the desired outcome of a prevention intervention. For evaluation purposes, the formulation of objectives must specify the variables to be changed and establish measurable success criteria. A plausible, testable assumption must link program activities to objectives, and objectives to intended outcomes. If the objectives are vague, it will not be possible to implement an intervention or assess the effectiveness of the intervention.
  • Objectivity
    • Objective measures are made in a process involving a minimum amount of human interpretation, for example measurement of height.
      Objectivity is, along with reliability and validity, an important indicator for the quality of an instrument. It refers to the fact that the results yielded by the instrument must be independent of the person measuring the data - different people using the same instrument should come to the same results.
  • Obligation
    • Wikipedia
      Used interchangeably with duty. That which is required, although tempered by competing duties. Obligations are correlated with rights. In epidemiology and public health, professional role obligations derive from basic ethical principles and are articulated in codes of professional conduct.
  • Observation
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Closely monitoring a patient's condition but withholding treatment until symptoms appear or change. Also called watchful waiting, active surveillance, and expectant management.
      The act of regarding attentively and studying facts and occurrences, gathering data through analyzing, measuring, and drawing conclusions, with the purpose of applying the observed information to theoretical assumptions. Observation as a scientific method in the acquisition of knowledge began in classical antiquity; in modern science and medicine its greatest application is facilitated by modern technology. Observation is one of the components of the research process.
  • Observational study
    • Wikipedia
      A type of study in which individuals are observed or certain outcomes are measured. No attempt is made to affect the outcome (for example, no treatment is given).
      A study in which the investigators do not seek to intervene, and simply observe the course of events. Changes or differences in one characteristic (e.g. whether or not people received the intervention of interest) are studied in relation to changes or differences in other characteristic(s) (e.g. whether or not they died), without action by the investigator. There is a greater risk of selection bias than in experimental studies.
      Epidemiological study in situations where nature is allowed to take its course. Changes or differences in one characteristic are studied in relation to changes or differences in others, without the intervention of the investigator.
  • Observer bias
    • MeSH
      Occurs when an observer’s observations differ systematically according to participant characteristics (e.g., making systematically different observations in treatment and control groups).
      The failure by the observer to measure or identify a phenomenon accurately, which results in an error. Sources for this may be due to the observer's missing an abnormality, or to faulty technique resulting in incorrect test measurement, or to misinterpretation of the data. Two varieties are inter-observer variation (the amount observers vary from one another when reporting on the same material) and intra-observer variation (the amount one observer varies between observations when reporting more than once on the same material).
      Also called observer variation.
  • Observer variation
    • MeSH
      The failure by the observer to measure or identify a phenomenon accurately, which results in an error. Sources for this may be due to the observer's missing an abnormality, or to faulty technique resulting in incorrect test measurement, or to misinterpretation of the data. Two varieties are inter-observer variation (the amount observers vary from one another when reporting on the same material) and intra-observer variation (the amount one observer varies between observations when reporting more than once on the same material).
  • Obstetric delivery
    • MeSH
      Delivery of the fetus and placenta under the care of an obstetrician or a health worker. Obstetric deliveries may involve physical, psychological, medical, or surgical interventions.
  • Obstetric labor
    • MeSH
      The repetitive uterine contraction during childbirth which is associated with the progressive dilation of the uterine cervix (cervix uteri). Successful labor results in the expulsion of the fetus and placenta. Obstetric labor can be spontaneous or induced (labor, induced).
  • Occupancy rate
    • The percentage of a hospital’s beds filled at a specific time (or in a specific period).
  • Occupational health
    • MeSH
      The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.
  • Odds
    • Wikipedia
      A way of expressing the chance of an event, calculated by dividing the number of individuals in a sample who experienced the event by the number for whom it did not occur. For example, if in a sample of 100, 20 people died and 80 people survived the odds of death are 20/80 = ΒΌ, 0.25 or 1:4.
  • Odds ratio
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The ratio of the odds of an event in one group to the odds of an event in another group. In studies of treatment effect, the odds in the treatment group are usually divided by the odds in the control group. An odds ratio of one indicates no difference between comparison groups. For undesirable outcomes an OR that is less than one indicates that the intervention was effective in reducing the risk of that outcome. When the risk is small, odds ratios are very similar to risk ratios. (Also called OR.)
      An odds of an event is the number of events divided by the number of non-events. In epidemiology an event might be a disease studied in the exposed group versus the control group, e.g. lung cancer. An odds ratio is obtained by dividing the odds in the exposed group by the control group.
      The ratio of two odds. The exposure-odds ratio for case control data is the ratio of the odds in favor of exposure among cases to the odds in favor of exposure among noncases. The disease-odds ratio for a cohort or cross section is the ratio of the odds in favor of disease among the exposed to the odds in favor of disease among the unexposed. The prevalence-odds ratio refers to an odds ratio derived cross-sectionally from studies of prevalent cases.
  • Odds reduction
    • The odds reduction expresses, for odds, what relative risk reduction expresses for risks. Just as the relative risk reduction is 1 – relative risk, the odds reduction is 1 – relative odds (the relative odds and odds ratio being synonymous). Thus, if a treatment results in an odds ratio of 0.6 for a particular outcome, the treatment reduces the odds for that outcome by 0.4.
  • Off-label
    • Wikipedia
      Describes the legal use of a prescription drug to treat a disease or condition for which the drug has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
      A drug prescribed for conditions other than those approved by the FDA.
  • Off-label use
    • MeSH
      The practice of prescribing or using a drug outside the scope of the drug's official approved label as designated by a regulatory agency concerning the treatment of a particular disease or condition.
  • Off the shelf reviews
    • Refers to the provision of evidence in a readily available form, providing accurate information and facilitating timeliness.
  • One-tailed test
    • Wikipedia
      A statistical test where a difference between two groups, if true, is expected to be in one direction. For example, the difference between passive smokers and non-smokers in the occurrence of lung cancer is expected to be in one direction. It is not expected that smoking will protect from lung cancer, and so there is no need to test for it. A one-tailed test will need a smaller sample size than a two-tailed test.
  • Open clinical trial
    • Wikipedia
      A clinical trial in which the investigator and participant are aware which intervention is being used for which participant (i.e. not blinded). Random allocation may or may not be used in such trials. Sometimes called an ‘open label’ design.
      A clinical trial in which the investigator decides which intervention is to be used (non-random allocation). This is sometimes called an open label design (but some trials which are said to be ‘open label’, are randomized).
      A clinical trial that uses an open sequential design.
  • Open-ended question
    • Wikipedia
      A question asked without providing a pre-defined set of responses to select from.
  • Open label study
    • Wikipedia
      A type of study in which both the health providers and the patients are aware of the drug or treatment being given.
      A clinical trial in which doctors and participants know which drug or vaccine is being administered.
  • Open sequential design
    • A sequential trial where the decision to stop the trial rests on the size of effect in those studies, and there is no finite maximum number of participants in the study.
  • Operational objectives
    • Wikipedia
      These are technical, intermediate aims in order to achieve the changes in the target group previously defined as specific objective. Operational objectives are the outputs or products of the intervention, for instance training sessions held, manuals published and distributed, teachers trained, schools involved, peers recruited, but also the demands for repetition of the intervention and the degree of acceptance.
  • Operations research
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Operations research, also known as operational research, is an interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics and formal science that uses advanced analytical methods such as mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and mathematical optimization to arrive at optimal or near-optimal solutions to complex decision-making problems. It is often concerned with determining the maximum (of profit, performance, or yield) or minimum (of loss, risk, or cost) of some real-world objective.
      A group of techniques developed to apply scientific methods and tools to solve the problems of decision making in complex organizations and systems. Operations research searches for optimal solutions in situations of conflicting goals and makes use of mathematical models from which solutions for actual problems may be derived.
  • Opportunities
    • Opportunities are health benefits that are part of neither the original intentions nor proposals but that provide a chance to improve health and wellbeing by adjusting the design or adding new project components.
  • Opportunity cost
    • Wikipedia
      The value of (health or other) benefits forgone in alternative uses when a resource is used.
      The value of a resource in its most favored alternative use. Because of scarcity, choices among competing claims on the limited resources must be made. As the example of allocative efficiency shows, the opportunity cost of additional investment in preventing childhood accidents could be the potential health gains forgone by children with asthma. It follows that an economic evaluation is a method of comparing the benefits of alternative allocations of resources.
  • Ordinal categorical data
    • Categorical data in which the variables can be ordered one above another. An example of ordinal categorical data is the number of children a woman has.
  • Ordinal data
    • Data that are classified into more than two categories which have a natural order; for example, non-smokers, ex-smokers, light smokers and heavy smokers. Ordinal data are often reduced to two categories to simplify analysis and presentation, which may result in a considerable loss of information.
  • Ordinal scale
    • Classification into ordered qualitative categories; e.g., social class (I, II, III, etc.), where the values have a distinct order, but their categories are qualitative in that there is no natural (numerical) distance between their positive values.
  • Organizational case studies
    • MeSH
      Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.
  • Orphan drugs
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      An FDA category that refers to medications used to treat diseases and conditions that occur rarely. There is little financial incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to develop medications for these diseases or conditions. Orphan drug status, however, gives a manufacturer specific financial incentives to develop and provide such medications.
      Drugs or biologicals which are unlikely to be manufactured by private industry unless special incentives are provided by others.
  • Other health workers
    • WHO Statistical Information System: includes a large number of occupations such as dieticians and nutritionists, medical assistants, occupational therapists, operators of medical and dentistry equipment, optometrists and opticians, physiotherapists, podiatrists, prosthetic/orthetic engineers, psychologists, respiratory therapists, speech pathologists, medical trainees and interns.
  • Outbreak
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Outbreak is a term used in epidemiology to describe an occurrence of disease greater than would otherwise be expected in a particular time and place.
      Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes epidemics and pandemics.
      Also called disease outbreak.
  • Outcome
    • A change to a situation resulting from an action.
      A specific result or effect that can be measured. Examples of outcomes include decreased pain, reduced tumor size, and improvement of disease.
      A component of a participant's clinical and functional status after an intervention has been applied, that is used to assess the effectiveness of an intervention.
  • Outcome and process assessment (health care)
    • MeSH
      Evaluation procedures that focus on both the outcome or status (outcomes assessment) of the patient at the end of an episode of care - presence of symptoms, level of activity, and mortality; and the process (assessment, process) - what is done for the patient diagnostically and therapeutically.
  • Outcome assessment (health care)
    • MeSH
      Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).
  • Outcome evaluation
    • Systematic process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data to assess and evaluate what outcomes an intervention has achieved. In other words, outcome evaluation measures how clients and their circumstances change and whether the intervention experience has been a factor in causing this change.
      Outcome evaluation refers to the consequent effect of a program on the health outcomes in populations, corresponding to the program goal or target.
      Outcome evaluation monitors indicators and health outcomes after the proposal has been implemented.
  • Outcome indicator
    • Outcome indicators relate the results of a project in the target group to its specific objectives (and the underlying working hypothesis).
  • Outcome variable
    • The target variable of interest. The variable that is hypothesized to depend on or be caused by another variable, the independent variable.
  • Outcomes of health care
    • Those aspects of health that result from the interventions provided by the health system, the facilities and personnel that recommend them and the actions of those who are the targets of the interventions.
  • Outcomes research
    • Wikipedia
      Evaluates the impact of health care on the health outcomes of patients and populations.
  • Outline
    • Wikipedia
      A list of the main features of a given topic, often used as a rough draft or summary of the content of a document.
      Outlines [MeSH - publication type]: works consisting of brief statements of the principal elements of a subject, usually arranged by heads and subheads.
  • Outpatient
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A patient who visits a health care facility for diagnosis or treatment without spending the night. Sometimes called a day patient.
      Persons who receive ambulatory care at an outpatient department or clinic without room and board being provided.
  • Outpatient health care visits ratio
    • The number of outpatient health care visits per every 1,000 inhabitants in a population, at a given year, for a given country, territory, or geographic area.
  • Output
    • The result of a process.
      The immediate result of implementing surveillance and response activities.
  • Outreach work
    • Community-based activities with the aim of getting in touch with persons who are not effectively reached by existing services. One key element is active contact-making with high-risk groups in a setting where they are comfortable, and keeping in close contact with them, instead of waiting for these people to approach services. Activities range from prevention to healthcare and advice for untreated drug users.
  • Overall
    • Overall [MeSH - publication type]: a single citation covering several articles of various degrees of specificity or a single citation covering papers or abstracts presented at a meeting. A subject overall refers to a series of articles on a single subject; a congress overall refers to papers presented at a formal local, regional, national, or international gathering; a society overall refers to papers presented at an annual, semi-annual, monthly, weekly, or other meeting of a society, academy, institute, hospital, etc.
  • Overall objective
    • The main purpose of the intervention- the solution or modification of the stated problem. Its definition should include a brief description of the expected change, preferably a quantifiable measure of outcomes, with regard to population and when it is expected to be achieved.
  • Over-the-counter drug
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A medicine that can be bought without a prescription (doctor's order). Examples include analgesics (pain relievers) such as aspirin and acetaminophen. Also called nonprescription drug and OTC.
      Medicines that can be sold legally without a drug prescription.
  • Overview
    • A type of review in which primary research relevant to a question is examined and summarized, and an effort is made to identify all available literature (published or unpublished) that pertains to that question.