Paras Mehta
Biographic Data
| ID | 4883346 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paras Mehta |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paras |
| FAMILY NAME | Mehta |
| SIGNATURE | MEHTA P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Houston |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7378-3179 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 19 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Relationship Between Number of Assigned Patients and RN Time to Administer Medications During the Peak-Time Medication Pass
BACKGROUND: Inpatient nurse staffing affects patient outcomes. Less is known about the mechanism of this relationship and how lower overall staffing in a unit affects individual RN activities at the bedside. OBJECTIVES: Estimate the relationship between the number of patients assigned to an RN and time spent on medication administration at the peak-time medication pass (PTM), a common nursing task. RESEARCH DESIGN: Estimate the association using …
Using Medication Pass Analysis to Examine Longitudinal Changes in VA Inpatient Nurse Staffing and Workload Before and Through the Covid-19 Pandemic
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in extended disruption to the health care system. National-level data-driven comparisons of inpatient nurse staffing and workload before and during the pandemic have been limited. OBJECTIVES: Assess the extent to which registered nurse (RN) staffing and workload changed from prepandemic levels in a national integrated health care system. RESEARCH DESIGN: Longitudinal descriptive analysis. Medication pass…
Predictors of Inpatient RN Turnover in Rural and Urban VHA Hospitals
BACKGROUND: The rising demand for health care delivery and an aging workforce is of particular concern in rural areas, where health care access depends upon an adequate nursing workforce. To address this shortage and optimize care, it is essential to measure when registered nurses (RN) leave inpatient direct care positions (ie, inpatient RN turnover) and identify modifiable factors correlated with RN turnover. OBJECTIVES: Apply a novel method for…
Beyond Hospital-Level Aggregated Data
BACKGROUND: Studies of nurse staffing frequently use data aggregated at the hospital level that do not provide the appropriate context to inform unit-level decisions, such as nurse staffing. OBJECTIVES: Describe a method to link patient data collected during the provision of routine care and recorded in the electronic health record (EHR) to the nursing units where care occurred in a national dataset. RESEARCH DESIGN: We identified all Veterans He…
A Social Relations Model of need supportiveness
Basic need fulfillment has important implications for optimal growth and development and may be derived through receiving need support from others. Thus far, research has primarily focused on single-person ratings of (perceptions of) need supportiveness. Thus, it is unclear whether perceptions of need supportiveness are dyadically specific and reciprocal and to what extent need supportiveness may be trait-based. In the current study, sorority and…
An Alternative Method of Public Reporting of Comparative Hospital Quality and Performance Data for Transparency Initiatives
BACKGROUND: Hospital performance comparisons for transparency initiatives may be inadequate if peer comparison groups are poorly defined. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate a new approach identifying hospital peers for comparison. DESIGN/SETTING: We used Mahalanobis distance as a new method of developing peer-specific groupings for hospitals to incorporate both external and internal complexity. We compared the overlap in group…
Virtual Levels and Role Models
A general latent variable modeling framework called n-Level Structural Equations Modeling (NL-SEM) for dependent data-structures is introduced. NL-SEM is applicable to a wide range of complex multilevel data-structures (e.g., cross-classified, switching membership, etc.). Reciprocal dyadic ratings obtained in round-robin design involve complex set of dependencies that cannot be modeled within Multilevel Modeling (MLM) or Structural Equations Mode…
Meta-Accuracy and Perceived Reciprocity From the Perception-Meta-Perception Social Relations Model
Meta-accuracy and perceptions of reciprocity can be measured by covariances between latent variables in two social relations models examining perception and meta-perception. We propose a single unified model called the Perception-Meta-Perception Social Relations Model (PM-SRM). This model simultaneously estimates all possible parameters to provide a more complete understanding of the relationships between perception and meta-perception. We descri…
A social relations examination of neuroticism and emotional support
Control Variables in Research
Parents' Expectations to Receive Antibiotic Prescriptions for Children
The objective of this study was to evaluate whether parents’ level of expectations would change after manipulating their perceived barriers to visiting doctors without any expectations for antibiotic prescriptions and their perceived benefits of using antibiotics. A prospective experimental study was conducted using a data-collection instrument to manipulate perceived barriers and perceived benefits using four scenarios. Scenarios were developed …
OpenMx
OpenMx is free, full-featured, open source, structural equation modeling (SEM) software. OpenMx runs within the R statistical programming environment on Windows, Mac OS–X, and Linux computers. The rationale for developing OpenMx is discussed along with the philosophy behind the user interface. The OpenMx data structures are introduced—these novel structures define the user interface framework and provide new opportunities for model specification.…
Intelligence, Parental Depression, and Behavior Adaptability in Deaf Children Being Considered for Cochlear Implantation
Cognitive ability and behavioral adaptability are distinct, yet related, constructs that can impact childhood development. Both are often reduced in deaf children of hearing parents who do not provide sufficient language and communication access. Additionally, parental depression is commonly observed due to parent-child communication difficulties that can lead to parents' feelings of inadequacy and frustration. We sought to assess whether adaptiv…
Semi-Nonparametric Methods for Detecting Latent Non-normality
Ordered latent class analysis (OLCA) can be used to approximate unidimensional latent distributions. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the method of OLCA in detecting non-normality of an unobserved continuous variable (i.e., a common factor) used to explain the covariation between dichotomous item-level responses. Using simulation, we compared a model in which probabilities of class membership were estimated to a restricted submodel…
People are variables too
The article uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as a template to explain didactically multilevel structural equation models (ML-SEM) and to demonstrate the equivalence of general mixed-effects models and ML-SEM. An intuitively appealing graphical representation of complex ML-SEMs is introduced that succinctly describes the underlying model and its assumptions. The use of definition variables (i.e., observed variables used to fix model paramet…
Teaching Digital Design to Computing Science Students in a Single Academic Term
How should digital design be taught to computing science students in a single one-semester course? This work advocates the use of state-of-the-art design tools and programmable devices and presents a series of laboratory exercises to help students learn digital logic. Each exercise introduces new concepts and produces the complete design of a stand-alone apparatus that is fun and interesting to use. These exercises lead to the most challenging ca…
Putting the individual back into individual growth curves.
Scaling of time (age) in latent growth curve (LGC) models has important implications for studies of development. When participants begin a study at different ages, sample means and covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches produce biased estimates of the variance of the intercept and the covariance between the Intercept and Slope factors. However, individual data vector-based SEM approaches produce proper estimates of these p…
The role of instruction in learning to read
First and 2nd graders (N = 28?) receiving Title I services received 1 of 3 kinds of classroom reading programs: direct instruction in letter-sound correspondences practiced in decodable text (direct code); less direct instruction in systematic sound-spelling patterns embedded in connected text (embedded code); and implicit instruction in the alphabetic code while reading connected text (implicit code). Children receiving direct code instruction i…
Topological methods in social choice
A social relations examination of neuroticism and emotional support
Meta-Accuracy and Perceived Reciprocity From the Perception-Meta-Perception Social Relations Model
Meta-accuracy and perceptions of reciprocity can be measured by covariances between latent variables in two social relations models examining perception and meta-perception. We propose a single unified model called the Perception-Meta-Perception Social Relations Model (PM-SRM). This model simultaneously estimates all possible parameters to provide a more complete understanding of the relationships between perception and meta-perception. We descri…
Topological methods in social choice
The role of instruction in learning to read
First and 2nd graders (N = 28?) receiving Title I services received 1 of 3 kinds of classroom reading programs: direct instruction in letter-sound correspondences practiced in decodable text (direct code); less direct instruction in systematic sound-spelling patterns embedded in connected text (embedded code); and implicit instruction in the alphabetic code while reading connected text (implicit code). Children receiving direct code instruction i…
Putting the individual back into individual growth curves.
Scaling of time (age) in latent growth curve (LGC) models has important implications for studies of development. When participants begin a study at different ages, sample means and covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches produce biased estimates of the variance of the intercept and the covariance between the Intercept and Slope factors. However, individual data vector-based SEM approaches produce proper estimates of these p…
People are variables too
The article uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as a template to explain didactically multilevel structural equation models (ML-SEM) and to demonstrate the equivalence of general mixed-effects models and ML-SEM. An intuitively appealing graphical representation of complex ML-SEMs is introduced that succinctly describes the underlying model and its assumptions. The use of definition variables (i.e., observed variables used to fix model paramet…
Teaching Digital Design to Computing Science Students in a Single Academic Term
How should digital design be taught to computing science students in a single one-semester course? This work advocates the use of state-of-the-art design tools and programmable devices and presents a series of laboratory exercises to help students learn digital logic. Each exercise introduces new concepts and produces the complete design of a stand-alone apparatus that is fun and interesting to use. These exercises lead to the most challenging ca…
Semi-Nonparametric Methods for Detecting Latent Non-normality
Ordered latent class analysis (OLCA) can be used to approximate unidimensional latent distributions. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the method of OLCA in detecting non-normality of an unobserved continuous variable (i.e., a common factor) used to explain the covariation between dichotomous item-level responses. Using simulation, we compared a model in which probabilities of class membership were estimated to a restricted submodel…
Intelligence, Parental Depression, and Behavior Adaptability in Deaf Children Being Considered for Cochlear Implantation
Cognitive ability and behavioral adaptability are distinct, yet related, constructs that can impact childhood development. Both are often reduced in deaf children of hearing parents who do not provide sufficient language and communication access. Additionally, parental depression is commonly observed due to parent-child communication difficulties that can lead to parents' feelings of inadequacy and frustration. We sought to assess whether adaptiv…
OpenMx
OpenMx is free, full-featured, open source, structural equation modeling (SEM) software. OpenMx runs within the R statistical programming environment on Windows, Mac OS–X, and Linux computers. The rationale for developing OpenMx is discussed along with the philosophy behind the user interface. The OpenMx data structures are introduced—these novel structures define the user interface framework and provide new opportunities for model specification.…
Control Variables in Research
Parents' Expectations to Receive Antibiotic Prescriptions for Children
The objective of this study was to evaluate whether parents’ level of expectations would change after manipulating their perceived barriers to visiting doctors without any expectations for antibiotic prescriptions and their perceived benefits of using antibiotics. A prospective experimental study was conducted using a data-collection instrument to manipulate perceived barriers and perceived benefits using four scenarios. Scenarios were developed …
A social relations examination of neuroticism and emotional support
Virtual Levels and Role Models
A general latent variable modeling framework called n-Level Structural Equations Modeling (NL-SEM) for dependent data-structures is introduced. NL-SEM is applicable to a wide range of complex multilevel data-structures (e.g., cross-classified, switching membership, etc.). Reciprocal dyadic ratings obtained in round-robin design involve complex set of dependencies that cannot be modeled within Multilevel Modeling (MLM) or Structural Equations Mode…
Meta-Accuracy and Perceived Reciprocity From the Perception-Meta-Perception Social Relations Model
Meta-accuracy and perceptions of reciprocity can be measured by covariances between latent variables in two social relations models examining perception and meta-perception. We propose a single unified model called the Perception-Meta-Perception Social Relations Model (PM-SRM). This model simultaneously estimates all possible parameters to provide a more complete understanding of the relationships between perception and meta-perception. We descri…
A Social Relations Model of need supportiveness
Basic need fulfillment has important implications for optimal growth and development and may be derived through receiving need support from others. Thus far, research has primarily focused on single-person ratings of (perceptions of) need supportiveness. Thus, it is unclear whether perceptions of need supportiveness are dyadically specific and reciprocal and to what extent need supportiveness may be trait-based. In the current study, sorority and…
An Alternative Method of Public Reporting of Comparative Hospital Quality and Performance Data for Transparency Initiatives
BACKGROUND: Hospital performance comparisons for transparency initiatives may be inadequate if peer comparison groups are poorly defined. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate a new approach identifying hospital peers for comparison. DESIGN/SETTING: We used Mahalanobis distance as a new method of developing peer-specific groupings for hospitals to incorporate both external and internal complexity. We compared the overlap in group…
Beyond Hospital-Level Aggregated Data
BACKGROUND: Studies of nurse staffing frequently use data aggregated at the hospital level that do not provide the appropriate context to inform unit-level decisions, such as nurse staffing. OBJECTIVES: Describe a method to link patient data collected during the provision of routine care and recorded in the electronic health record (EHR) to the nursing units where care occurred in a national dataset. RESEARCH DESIGN: We identified all Veterans He…
Relationship Between Number of Assigned Patients and RN Time to Administer Medications During the Peak-Time Medication Pass
BACKGROUND: Inpatient nurse staffing affects patient outcomes. Less is known about the mechanism of this relationship and how lower overall staffing in a unit affects individual RN activities at the bedside. OBJECTIVES: Estimate the relationship between the number of patients assigned to an RN and time spent on medication administration at the peak-time medication pass (PTM), a common nursing task. RESEARCH DESIGN: Estimate the association using …
Using Medication Pass Analysis to Examine Longitudinal Changes in VA Inpatient Nurse Staffing and Workload Before and Through the Covid-19 Pandemic
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in extended disruption to the health care system. National-level data-driven comparisons of inpatient nurse staffing and workload before and during the pandemic have been limited. OBJECTIVES: Assess the extent to which registered nurse (RN) staffing and workload changed from prepandemic levels in a national integrated health care system. RESEARCH DESIGN: Longitudinal descriptive analysis. Medication pass…
Predictors of Inpatient RN Turnover in Rural and Urban VHA Hospitals
BACKGROUND: The rising demand for health care delivery and an aging workforce is of particular concern in rural areas, where health care access depends upon an adequate nursing workforce. To address this shortage and optimize care, it is essential to measure when registered nurses (RN) leave inpatient direct care positions (ie, inpatient RN turnover) and identify modifiable factors correlated with RN turnover. OBJECTIVES: Apply a novel method for…
Psychology (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Mathematics (7 works) · Statistics (7 works) · Econometrics (6 works) · Structural equation modeling (6 works) · Developmental psychology (3 works) · Medicine (3 works) · MEDLINE (3 works) · Mental Health Research Topics (3 works)