Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Patients Receiving Positive Airway Pressure Therapy - Essay Example

Qualitative Article Critique Qualitative Article Critique: Life Experiences among Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Patients Receiving Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy Element influencing the believability of the study Writing Style The authors of this article have maintained simple, quality and concise writing. There is coherence in the ideas tackled in the paper and the reader has no difficulty following through. Overall, the article does not use jargons save for the occasional use of the word “sequelae”. The paper has a convenient organization that allows the reader to navigate its content easily. Author The authors of this article confirm that they have passed ICMJE criteria for authorship credit. To approve authors for recognition, the criteria requires authors to have contributed substantively to the conception, research designing, data acquisition and analysis, drafting and revision of the article checking for credible intellectual content and final approval of the version to be published. The authors of this article are therefore competent and credible. Report Title The title of this article is long but it suffices to usher in the reader into its contents. The title is clear and there is no ambiguity in its meaning. This title is captivating for both those who know and those who do not know anything about obstructive sleep apnoea. Abstract There is an abstract providing a brief summary of what to expect in the article. The abstract captures all the important elements of the paper and is therefore a good abstract only that it is not titled. It provides a summary of aims and objectives, background, design, methods, results, conclusions and relevance to clinical practice. Element influencing the robustness of the study Statement of the phenomenon of interest The article identifies the topic of study clearly, “life experiences among obstructive sleep apnoea patients receiving continuous positive airway pressure therapy.” The title and the abstract of the article capture the topic of study clearly. Researchers incorporated research questions into the introduction where they are not easily identifiable. However, the topic of this study and the research questions are seamlessly connected. There is consistency between the object of study and the research questions posed. Purpose/Significance of the study This study states its purpose as being to generate a descriptive theoretical framework for experiences among obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients undergoing continuous positive airway pressure (CPA) therapy. The authors of this article reckon that there is a dearth of information on the subjective experiences of OSA patients undergoing CPAP therapy. The authors of this study believe that understanding the subjective feelings of OSA patients will be crucial in helping healthcare providers address the subjective needs of OSA patients better. Literature Review The introduction to this article captures relevant literature on the topic of study that presents the findings of other researchers on the topic and elements related to the study. The study provides statistics as evidence of the prevalence of OSA, patients’ treatment alternatives and the initial problems experienced by OSA patients when the state CPAP therapy. Theoretical Framework The study does not provide its theoretical framework and the reader is at a loss of knowing what guided the tasks of the researchers. Methodology and Philosophical Underpinnings The researchers offer that they used the grounded theory method in developing a substantive theory. They state that this methodology helps in discovering a new perspective about individuals experiencing a phenomenon of interest. They explain that they used this methodology because they were seeking an understanding of the medical help that OSA patients need and the various life experiences they live through when receiving CPAP therapy. The article asserts that the grounded theory method design helped generate a descriptive theory explaining OSA patients’ life experiences while under CPAP therapy for those whose health was restoring and those who were living with CPAP. This provides the philosophical approach the researchers used to get information to help them understand their topic of interest. Sampling The article states that the researchers used a convenience sample. They selected all the participants from a teaching hospital who received CPAP therapy in an outpatient clinic. They used theme analysis to measure the sample size. Spoken ideas or material from discussions provided the information needed in theme analysis. The lack of new themes marked the saturation point. The article identifies the study’s inclusion and exclusion criteria clearly. The study’s inclusion criteria were individuals diagnosed with OSA and receiving CPAP, willing to share OSA experience with researchers and able to communicate using Mandarin, Taiwanese, or Hakka. The exclusion criteria locked out all patients who had psychiatric illnesses or other major illnesses. Convenience sampling was ideal for the study especially because it was a qualitative study. Researchers ensured the suitability of the participants by using participants who were willing and able to communicate their experiences in a language that the researchers could understand. Ethical Consideration The article states that the hospital Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the study. It offers that the researcher served interviewees with all relevant information about the study and received interviewees’ consent both orally and through writing. Researchers assured interviewees’ privacy all through the interview process. Confidentiality guided the researchers’ conduct in handling interviewees’ information. During the first interview, researchers informed participants of their right to withdraw from the process at any time. The ethical considerations of the study were apt. Data Collection and Analysis A semi-structured interview helped researchers collect information from participants. The article records that researchers collected data anonymously throughout the interview process. The authors explain that interview sessions ran for fifty minutes. Data collection, analysis, and coding took place simultaneously. Different specialists and experts helped ensure that interviewers’ subjective feelings did not affect the validity of the content. Excel software program helped in recording data and different experts helped in data analysis. These experts helped enhance the objectivity of the study findings. The article records that continuous data comparison took place in three stages including open coding, axial coding and determining the initial theory. Rigor Researchers used followed certain criteria in order to ensure the trustworthiness of their study. To uphold credibility, researchers ensured that interviews were open, thorough and appropriate for interviewees to share their subjective feelings. Interviewee referral from chest physicians from an outpatient department of sleep disorders in a teaching hospital served to foster faith in interviewees towards the researchers encouraging them to open up freely. Researchers ensured the transferability of the study’s findings by ensuring that the recruited participants were OSA patients willing to share their experiences. The transcription process employed in the study was apt and the confirmation process was neutral. Researchers recorded summaries of important interview content immediately after each interview. They compiled these summaries into volumes that served as channels of future data analysis. The rigor of the study fulfilled the elements of credibility, transferability, and dependability all of which are essential to the trustworthiness of a qualitative study. Findings/Discussion Researchers presented their results in an easy way that ensures readers’ ease of comprehending the content. They compressed the results in a chart that is easy to read and follow. The result findings are consistent with the research questions and capture the subjective life experience of OSA patients clearly. Conclusion/Implication and Recommendation The article links the result findings of this study with the purpose of seeking an understanding of the subjective needs of OSA patients that use CPAP therapy. Researchers articulate their intention to come up with an appropriate care model for OSA patients that would help improve on the antecedent condition, self-care competency, and OSA patients’ quality of life. Researchers state clearly the practical implications of the study findings to the providers of OSA healthcare. They provided clear recommendations based on their findings. However, the study did not provide recommendations and suggestions for future studies. References The study referenced its source materials clearly both in the content of the article and in the bibliographic section. Reference Hu, Shui-Tao, Yu, Chung-Chieh, Lee, Pei-Shan & Tsao, Lee-Ing. (2013). Life experiences among obstructive sleep apnoea patients receiving continuous positive airway pressure therapy. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 23, 268 – 278. Read More