NR 439 Week 5 Reading Research Literature (graded)

Sample Answer

The following questions pertain to:

• Velayutham, S. G., Chandra, S. R., Bharath, S., & Shankar, R. G. (2017). Quantitative balance and gait measurement in patients with frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer diseases A pilot study. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 39(2), 176-182. doi 10.4103/0253-7176.203132.
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1) What is the purpose of this research?

The objective of this paper is to examine the ways in which subclinical methods can be used for bringing down the instances of falls of patients in hospitals and other clinics etc.

2) What is the research question (or questions)? This may be implicit or explicit.

This paper uses an implicit research question. As stated above, it aims to identify ways in which the instances of falls of patients at hospitals and other healthcare centers can be reduced or completely stopped. The key question here is that- can the objective of fall prevention be achieved with subclinical measure like gait balance?

3) Give a complete description of the research design of this study.

This is a qualitative study that explores the correlation of sub clinic ways like gait balance in prevention of patient falls at hospitals. The researchers have conducted three trials of 20 seconds each. The evaluation of the outcomes of these trials is done without any bias or external influence, to make it fair. The data for this study is derived from and structured in the form of balance index and the anteroposterior index. There is also information received from the patient that is stored in the mediolateral index format.

4) What is the population (sample) for this study?

The sample size for this population is 24 males of 50 and 70 years. These participants form three groups of 8 members each. To study is conducted keeping in mind an extensive set of ethical guidelines provided by the ethical committee of the institute. Moreover, participants were completely informed about the process and their written consent was taken. The source of FTD and AD groups is the outpatient department (OPD) geriatric and clinics. Some of the key metrics used for selecting these patients are – age, gender, height, weight, and the overall health.

5) Was the sample approach adequate for the research design that was selected and explain why.

It was a good way to go about this study as the authors were able to source the right sample of patients between age 50 and 70 years. This is the right group to get this kind of information as they are most prone to falls in the hospitals.

6) Describe the data collection procedure.

An expert group named Biodex Gait Trained USA Incorp was deployed to record the measurement of the gait of these participants. These participants were to walk on a treadmill that was connected with a sensor. During their walk of 2 minutes at a comfortable speed, these participants were aided with a safety harness kit. The sensor and personal observation was used for documenting variables such as walking speed, gait speed, lengths of participant’s steps, and the standard deviation of step length etc. This data was then further analyzed to arrive at the insights.

7) How were the data analyzed after collection?

Shapiro- Wilkins test was conducted on the data collected in the previous phase. This is used for confirming the normality of this data. For subjective variables like age, body mass index (BMI), culture, and education etc. descriptive analysis was done. Similarly, t-test was done for single and dual tasks. Last but not the least, one way ANOVA test was conducted for evaluating the difference in key insights received from different groups of participants.

8) Discuss the limitations found in the study.

There are some limitations of this research. First of all, some of the patients have challenges with their physical balance as well as gait. So, there some anomalies with the analysis done with these participants in the sample. Another challenge is that functions like physical balance and gait etc. are extremely subjective to different humans and cognitive in nature. Therefore, the analysis cannot provide any conclusive recommendations on fall prevention or any confirm solution for the same.

9) Discuss the authors’ conclusions. Do you feel these conclusions are based on the data that they collected?

The authors conclude that the most important factor for bringing down the number of elderly patients and those with AD and FTD falls at hospitals are – body balance and gait. These authors have also considered some other key parameters like age, gender, cultural orientation, and similar issues. It was found that patients between 50-70 years who have gait related issues, are more prone to falls in hospitals. All the findings are data backed and supported by different arguments from the researchers.

10) How does this advance knowledge in the field?

The findings of this research are important for nursing professionals who may then use it for bringing down the number of patient falls of elderly patients in hospitals. Therefore, this will have a deep impact on the entire society.

The following questions pertain to:

• Pals, R. S., Hansen, U. M., Johansen, C. B., Hansen, C. S., Jørgensen, M. E., Fleischer, J., & Willaing, I. (2015). Making sense of a new technology in clinical practice a qualitative study of patient and physician perspectives. BMC Health Services Research, 15(1), 1-10. doi 10.1186/s12913-015-1071-1
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11) What is the purpose of this research?

This study is to understand the impact of new and disruptive technologies in the healthcare space and the way it improves the clinical practice. Therefore, the researchers sought the feedback of patients who may have come in contact of these technologies in some ways. Especially with respect to cardiovascular autonomic Neuropathy (CAN) for diabetes.

12) What is the research question (or questions)? This may be implicit or explicit.

This is an implicit research question, i.e., how do the patients who receive cardiovascular neuropathy perceive the impact of various new technologies, that they come across in the hospitals.

13) Give a complete description of the research design of this study.

For this study, the researchers have sourced information from many patients, secondary resources, and interviews from other key stakeholders (physicians and medical consultants). These perspectives were further evaluated and analyzed for sanctity.

14) What is the population (sample) for this study?

For this study, 55 patients and 31 physicians were interviewed. They were approached through a personalized one on one email or face to face interview. These patients had gone through CAN test during the period of November 2013 and January 2014.

15) Was the sample spproach adequate for the research design that was selected and explain why.

Since it is a diversified sample including patients, physicians, and other consultants, and provides adequate inputs about the topic, we can consider it appropriate. These doctors and patients are randomly selected from a large database. So, the chances of any bias creeping into this sample are miniscule.

16) Describe the data collection procedure.

There are three different ways for data collection. First of all, the patients are interviewed for their perceptions and experiences. The second set of data comes in from those consultants who have worked in this sector. The last set comes from physicians who have been part of or recommended CAN tests for the patients. All this data has come either from face to face or email interactions with these stakeholders.

17) How were the data analyzed?

This study was extremely qualitative in nature. Therefore, the perceptions and experiences of all the stakeholders about the usage of technology for CAN tests are analyzed qualitatively. Even though qualitative analysis is extremely subjective and the interpretation may vary from one person to the other, the observations, interviews, and data recorded from here helps in findings some very important insights.

18) Discuss the limitations found in the study?

A key limitation of this study is that it seeks interviews of those patients who may have gone through CAN tests some time ago. They may not remember how exactly they felt during the process and how it could have been different without the technology. This may make the data extremely biased as physicians and consultants already have a certain opinion about the impact of technology in this scenario.

19) Discuss the authors’ conclusions. Do you feel these conclusions are based on the data that they collected?

The authors suggest that there is no significant impact in terms of patient experience by using the CAN technology. At the same time, even the physicians and consultants are not extremely sure about the impact of the technology on overall patient care outcomes.

20) How does this advance knowledge in the field.

This is one of the very important study that allows the healthcare professionals to understand the importance of new technologies in their industry. They may see that these technologies are perceived differently by different stakeholders. Therefore, implementing the right and appropriate technologies can help in improving the overall quality of patient care