The Effect of Relaxation-Breathing Training on Anxiety and Asthma - Essay Example

? Research Article Analysis Word Count: 4022 (excluding references) ID Number: u1040827 Foundation of Research, Journal by Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009) on the effect of relaxation-breathing training on anxiety and asthma Signs/symptoms of children with moderate-to-severe asthma: A randomized controlled trial published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies, Vol. 46, pp: 1061–1070. The title properly describes the study as a being a study to aimed at establishing the impact of emotional stress in exacerbating asthma in children. Same research has been done on adults with success. According to Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009), reducing anxiety in adults though the relaxation-breathing techniques has been used severally and proved through clinical trials as being effective in the production of good asthma outcomes. It is true that all research works aims at bridging a certain gap in information in less researched areas. In this case, more evidence will prove the importance of using such interventions in asthmatic children. The article was properly titled while the contents are in line with the title. This is proved by performing a search on the article using the key words like relaxation, breathing, asthma, trial, controlled etc. The research report abstract has enough information and readers can determine if the research has enough evidence to qualify it as being relevant. It is an overview which is visible since it is concise and brief and has all key findings articulated by the researcher. The abstract captures all key elements of the research work. In brief, the research abstract gives the researchers objectives which include evaluation of the effectiveness of combined self-management and relaxation breathing training for children with moderate-to-severe asthma compared to self-management-only training (Li-Chi Chiang et al. 2009), the research background, the methodology, the design, the sample and the results. A good abstract has to contain all the above as it summarizes the researchers assertions in a nutshell and makes it easier for many to understand the research work without flipping each page as Alasuutari, P. et al. (2008) puts it. An important part included here is the background part. This is key in any research work as it gives the information gap which forms a justification for the research. The authors start by first explaining Self-management programs, there use, when they have been used and their successes. Further, it gives perceptions towards their use and gives an indication that if used on children, then successes can be realized. At the end of the abstract, the researchers gives a summary of the findings from the analyzed data concluding that a combination of self-management and relaxation-breathing training can reduce anxiety, thus improving asthmatic children’s health. These results can serve as an evidence base for psychological nursing practice with asthmatic children (Li-Chi Chiang et al. 2009). In addition, the authors further gives the addition knowledge contributed to by the paper and the gap it attempts to fill, its relevance and its application and integration into the existing knowledge base. In the research study report, the independent variable were combined self-management and relaxation-breathing training for children and self-management-only training while the dependent variable was severity of asthma and are specified in the report abstract. In the study report, the researchers report that data on anxiety levels, self-perceived health status, asthma signs/symptoms, peak expiratory flow rate, and medication use was collected. Here the independent variables are anxiety levels, self-perceived health status, peak expiratory flow rate, and medication use while the dependent variable is asthma signs/symptoms. Other important considerations made on the data included interaction effects among the two groups and research timelines. The impact of interactions at times is enormous such that its omission leads to un-biased results. It is always important to tell in brief the sample size in the abstract since it determines the reliability and validity of the information given for future replication. This is a good practice in reporting information in any research journal. Further, the authors give more information on the software used to analyze the data. This is important since different software gives different standard errors and have different capabilities when compared (John 2009). The introduction gives an indication that, in the past, there has been increased research carried out on the effect of relaxation-breathing training on anxiety and asthma Signs/symptoms. Several organizations have had books on the topic published. The increase in research in this area is due to asthma’s increasing prevalence, severity and associated medical costs (Li-Chi Chiang et al. 2009) The researchers have identified a research problem basing their arguments on the fact that research has been done on adults with success. According to Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009), reducing anxiety in adults through the relaxation-breathing techniques has been used severally and proved through clinical trials as being effective in the production of good asthma outcomes. However, to Li-Chi Chiang et al., there exists no conclusive evidence to prove the importance of using such interventions in asthmatic children. In order to get conclusive evidence to prove the importance of using such interventions in asthmatic children, thus the sampling of 48 children, aged 6–14 years proved to have moderate-to-severe asthma. Their parents are included in this research as they are supposed to give consents on the children participation. The research report has a literature review in the introduction part of the report. The literature review is meant to give the readers more information on what has been done in the area of relaxation-breathing techniques in mitigating the impact of the severity of asthma. The literature review starts by giving the readers the reason behind the conducting of the researcher and what other researchers considered before conducting their researches. A review of literature is a critical part of any research report as it affords the research work some credibility. This is so because research findings explained by happenings in another research study make them credible. Such findings are further reliable and valid, elements retrieved from the linkage with existing information. Comparing findings with those of another research work in same area or context is key as it raises the level of readers’ expectations. With this in mind, the citation should not be made from any reading but from well thought research works. Research Design The researchers employed the use of controlled design and had two groups of participants. In the two-group experimental design used to evaluate the effectiveness of relaxation-breathing training combined with a self-management program in children with asthma (Li-Chi Chiang et al. 2009). According to Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009), children from the experimental group received relaxation-breathing training with interventions lasting for 12 weeks per participant. Data for five outcome indicators collected at the beginning and end of each intervention. The selected approach is advantageous in that it leads to realistic information which is valid and reliable. Data collected using this method is easier to analyze and represent. Sampling The researchers employed the use of a sample to draw inferences about a population of cancer patients (children). A sample of 59 families was selected to participate in the study but 11 of them dropped-out. The sample size was determined using a formula taking into consideration the bound on the error of the estimation, availability, cost, sampling frame, objectives of the researchers etc. Participation in any research is by consent and not through coercion. Before participation, participants are informed of their freedom of participation termination if they wish. After the drop-outs, the sample was again tested for homogeneity. If a research results are to be replicated and generalized, then the sample should be representative in terms of gender and socio-economic status. Representativeness of the sample was ensured since a qualified research assistant was used to sample. Further, in order to ensure equality and more varying results, it is important to ensure that the sample used is made up of same-trait-elements. This is done by placing certain restrictions on the participants before they participate. In such a case, certain restrictions are placed on the sample. In this case as Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009) puts it, for a child to participate, he/she had to be diagnosed with moderate-to-severe asthma by a physician at least 6 months before the study, he/she was required to have had >5 asthmatic episodes per year and with an Aas score of _2. Further, it was important that the child is regularly treated with asthma medication in a pediatric clinic. However, if the child had participated in any other clinical trials was excluded (Li-Chi Chiang et al. 2009). The researchers used purposive sampling and had a sample selected only from a medical center in central Taiwan. This method of sampling used by the researchers is a better sampling method as it takes into consideration the objectives/purposes of the study. In some cases, the availability of the research participants is a nightmare if say a random sample is to be used. In this case, purposive sampling is guided by the availability of the children-cancer-patient and this is key if the research objectives are to be realized. However, the envisaged general use of the research findings leads to the sampling method. A purpose sampling method leads to an un-biased sample which captures the entire requirements of the research study. An important practice used by the researcher is the assigning of two group elements using a random technique. Such a technique will afford all participants an equal chance of being selected. If the researchers took it upon themselves to allocate the elements then, the two groups will have suffered from the researchers’ subjectiveness. In case, the actual numbers of children-cancer patients are known, then the researchers could have used the stratification sampling method. A stratified sample is more applicable if the target population has varying traits. In this regard, the researchers would have sub-divided the target population into strata of elements of related traits. This would have led to a better representative sample although it will suffer from the un-availability of the participants. Consideration of traits is an important factor is sampling since covariates e.g. age, socio-economic status, parental education, residence among others, would interact while the confounding factors will have a significant effect on the final research findings. Ethical Considerations For any research findings to be held reliable and valid, then the researchers should adhere to some set norms. This include the assurances that; The participants data/information will be handled with the confidentiality it deserves; The participants are allowed to make an informed consent. In this case, since it is a research study involving children then the guardians should accompany them. This is the case here; The participants should be taken through the research study objectives. The researchers in this case first took the participants through the research study objectives informing them what s expected of them, the research benefits and risks involved; The researcher maximizes the benefits and minimizes the risks involved; Participants being human beings should be treated equally; no discrimination should be evident. In this case, the researcher ensures this by using random design in allocating elements into the two groups. Further according to Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009), the study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of China Medical University Hospital (DMR92-IRB- 027) while parents were given an informed consent agreement emphasizing the voluntary nature of their participation (no coercion), explaining their right to leave the study at any time (the reason why some 11 families dropped-out), and giving study details (Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009). Results and Conclusions The results are represented in prose and in tables. This is a good practice and the results are easy to understand and comprehend even to non-statisticians. The researchers further lists some of the research study limitations which include the selection of the sample from only one hospital although this has got its own advantages like internal validity of the data. Such limitations are good grounds for future research as it is true to have a perfect research study especially if done on human beings. The research findings indicate that a combination of asthma self-management and relaxation-breathing training can positively affect the physiological and psychological health of children with moderate-to-severe asthma. Further, relaxation-breathing training is a simple intervention that pediatric nurses can implement independently (Li-Chi Chiang et al. 2009). Foundations of Research, Journal 2 by Leena, R. et al. (2009) on gender differences in sport injury risk and types of injuries: A retrospective twelve-month study on cross-country skiers, swimmers, long-distance runners and soccer players. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, Vol. 8, pp: 443-451 The title properly describes the study as a being a study to aimed at establishing the impact of gender differences in sport injury risk and types of injuries. This was a retrospective twelve-month study and employed the use of cross-country skiers, swimmers, long-distance runners and soccer players (Leena, R. et al. 2009). According to Leena, R. et al. (2009) previous researchers on injuries in athletes have focused on the assumption that they are more sport-specific than gender-specific. However, presently, most sport injury studies that have investigated gender differences and have focused exclusively on knee injuries. It is true that all research works aims at bridging a certain gap in information in less researched areas. In this case, more evidence will prove the importance of considering sports injuries with more focus on establishing the impact of gender differences in sport injury risk and types of injuries. The article was properly titled while the contents are in line with the title. This is proved by performing a search on the article using the key words like sports, injuries, gender and sports etc. The research report abstract has no enough information and readers cannot determine if the research has enough evidence to qualify it as being relevant. Its overview is not visible since as it is not concise and brief and does not contain all key findings articulated by the researcher. The abstract does not capture all key elements of the research work. In brief, the research abstract should give the researchers objectives which include establishing the impact of gender differences in sport injury risk and types of injuries (Leena, R. et al. (2009). The researcher report abstract does not have information about the research background which will form the justification for the study, the research methodology, the research design, the selected sample, the sampling technique used for adequacy, the research findings, results, limitations and relevance. A good abstract has to contain all the above as it summarizes the researchers assertions in a nutshell and makes it easier for many to understand the research work without flipping each page as Alasuutari, P. et al. (2008) puts it. The research report lists most of the findings without giving more information on how the results were arrived at. This means that readers are not able to ascertain validity and reliability of the findings. The authors should have started by first explaining injuries in sports and their investigations over time in order to bring out the information gap which the researchers wants to fill. According to Leena, R. et al. (2009) previous researchers on injuries in athletes have focused on the assumption that they are more sport-specific than gender-specific. However, presently, most sport injury studies that have investigated gender differences and have focused exclusively on knee injuries. At the end of the abstract, the researchers should give a summary of the findings from the analyzed data concluding a few gender differences were observed in the anatomical location of injuries (Leena, R. et al. (2009) These results can serve as an evidence base for assuming that sports injuries are in any way related to ones gender (Leena, R. et al. (2009). In my own opinion, I think it would have been a good practice for the authors to further give the addition knowledge contributed to by the paper and the gap it attempts to fill, its relevance and its application and integration into the existing knowledge base. In the research study report, the independent variable were gender differences, sport-specific, training behaviors, biological gender differences while the dependent variable was probability of getting injuries. In the study report, the researchers report that data on acute injuries overuse injuries and all injuries for the different sports listed in the research. The researchers have defined the level of injuries. It is always important to tell in brief the sample size in the abstract since it determines the reliability and validity of the information given for future replication. This is a good practice in reporting information in any research journal. Further, it is important for the authors to give more information on the software used to analyze the data in the abstract. In this case, the researchers have given this information in the data analysis part of the paper. This is important since different software gives different standard errors and have different capabilities when compared (John 2009). The introduction gives an indication that, in the past, there has been increased research carried out on sports injuries. The authors have introduced the report by first explaining injuries in sports and their investigations over time in order to bring out the information gap which the researchers wants to fill. According to Leena, R. et al. (2009) previous researchers on injuries in athletes have focused on the assumption that they are more sport-specific than gender-specific. However, presently, most sport injury studies that have investigated gender differences and have focused exclusively on knee injuries. The increase in research in this area is due to the fact that, overall, the literature of gender differences in injuries is limited and that it is not known precisely whether the gender differences found are sport-specific only and thus related to training behaviors, or whether the difference in risk is related to biological gender differences (Leena, R. et al. 2009). The researchers have identified a research problem basing their arguments on the fact that research has been done on general sports injuries in location with success. According to Leena, R. et al. (2009), previous studies have found similar overall injury rates in men and women. In other studies, it has been found that male athletes have a higher risk for severe sport-related injuries than female athletes (Leena, R. et al. 2009) and only a few studies have reported on gender differences in injuries related to cross-country skiing. In order to get conclusive evidence to prove the importance of establishing gender effects on the occurrence of injuries, , thus a sample of 574 participants, aged 15–35 years proved to be sports men in cross-country skiing, swimming, long-distance running and soccer playing. The research report has a literature review in the introduction part of the report. The literature review is meant to give the readers more information on what has been done in the area of impact assessment of gender influences in sports injuries. The literature review starts by giving the readers the reason behind the conducting of the researcher and what other researchers considered before conducting their researches, their findings, limitations and areas of further research. A review of literature is a critical part of any research report as it affords the research work some credibility. This is so because research findings explained by happenings in another research study make them credible. Such findings are further reliable and valid, elements retrieved from the linkage with existing information. Comparing findings with those of another research work in same area or context is key as it raises the level of readers’ expectations. With this in mind, the citation should not be made from any reading but from well thought research works. Research Design The researchers employed the use of both qualitative and quantitative. The selected approaches are advantageous in that they lead to realistic information which is valid and reliable. Data collected using these methods are easier to analyze and represent in addition to being exhaustive. Sampling The researchers employed the use of a sample to draw inferences about a population of sports men and women. A sample of 574 participants was selected to participate in the study (312 female and 262 male. A total 639 questionnaires were returned from a possible 1200. The sample size was determined taking into consideration the bound on the error of the estimation, availability, cost, sampling frame, objectives of the researchers etc. Participation in any research is by consent and not through coercion. Before participation, participants are informed of their freedom of participation termination if they wish. If a research results are to be replicated and generalized, then the sample should be representative in terms of gender and other important factors which may sway the findings. Representativeness of the sample was ensured since it was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Jyvaskyla. Further, in order to ensure equality and more varying results, it is important to ensure that the sample used is made up of same-trait-elements. This is done by placing certain restrictions on the participants before they participate. In such a case, certain restrictions are placed on the sample. In this case as Leena, R. et al. (2009) puts it, for one to participate, he/she had to be a sports person below the age of 35 years. The researchers used random sampling technique and had a sample selected representing four different sports and loading modalities. This method of sampling used by the researchers is a better sampling method as it takes into consideration the objectives/purposes of the study and affords all the participants an equal chance of being selected. In some cases, the availability of the research participants is a nightmare but not the case here. In this case, random sampling is guided by the availability of the sports men and women and this is key if the research objectives are to be realized. However, the envisaged general use of the research findings leads to the sampling method. Random sampling method leads to an un-biased sample which captures the entire requirements of the research study. If the researchers took it upon themselves to allocate the elements then, the two groups will have suffered from the researchers’ subjectiveness. In case, the actual numbers of sports men and women are known, then the researchers could have used the stratification sampling method. A stratified sample is more applicable if the target population has varying traits. In this regard, the researchers would have sub-divided the target population into strata of elements of related traits, say, socio-economic status, age, department etc. This would have led to a better representative sample. Consideration of traits is an important factor is sampling since covariates e.g. age, socio-economic status, parental education, residence among others, would interact while the confounding factors will have a significant effect on the final research findings. Ethical Considerations For any research findings to be held reliable and valid, then the researchers should adhere to some set norms. This include the assurances that; The participants data/information will be handled with the confidentiality it deserves; The participants are allowed to make an informed consent; The participants should be taken through the research study objectives. The researchers in this case first took the participants through the research study objectives informing them what s expected of them, the research benefits and risks involved; The researcher maximizes the benefits and minimizes the risks involved; Participants being human beings should be treated equally; no discrimination should be evident. In this case, the researcher ensures this by using random design in selecting the study sample. Further according to Leena, R. et al. (2009), the study was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Jyvaskyla. ) Results and Conclusions The results are represented in prose and in tables. This is a good practice and the results are easy to understand and comprehend even to non-statisticians. One important part left out in this research study is research study limitations. Such limitations are good grounds for future research as it is true to have a perfect research study especially if done on human beings. The research findings indicate that gender differences are independent of type of sport. However, the low number of injuries limited some sport-specific injury comparations (Leena, R. et al. (2009). Reference Alasuutari, P. et al. (2008). The SAGE handbook of social research methods London: SAGE. John, W. (2009). Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 3rd. Sage. London Leena, R. et al. (2009). Gender differences in sport injury risk and types of injuries: A retrospective twelve-month study on cross-country skiers, swimmers, long-distance runners and soccer players. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, Vol. 8, pp: 443-451 Li-Chi Chiang et al. (2009). Effect of relaxation-breathing training on anxiety and asthma Signs/symptoms of children with moderate-to-severe asthma: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, Vol. 46, pp: 1061–1070 Read More