Health Promotion and Epidemiological Research - Essay Example

"Health Promotion and Epidemiological Research" is a great example of a paper on epidemiology.
Research problem, statement of purpose and research question are not stated in any of the paragraphs in the article. A hypothesis that type of visit is related to demographic, lifestyle, health and function factors is however stated. The hypothesis is non-directional since it does not specify the direction of the relationship (Macnee and McCabe, 2008) and is composite because it combines simple hypotheses on relationships between type of visit and lifestyle, health, and function (Munson, 2013). Logistic regression was used to test the hypothesis.

Research design

A longitudinal cohort study design was used and there was no intervention (Babbie, 2009). Participants were sampled and enrolled in care facilities and then evaluated using strategies such as clinical tests and patients’ history. Ethical approval and participants’ informed consent were pre-obtained (Strotmeyer et al., 2010).

Suitability of the Design

The longitudinal cohort study is appropriate because it allows for point and times series observations and analysis and this aids the longitudinal scope of retention interest. No alternative design could have been more appropriate because of the longitudinal and the non-experimental scope of the study (Gerrish and Lacey, 2010).

Use of Power Analysis

Power analysis was not used in the study for estimating sample size or probability of committing type II error. Its absence means either use of an unnecessarily large and costly sample size or a small sample that compromises external reliability (Cottrell and McKenzie, 2010).   

Research Methods and Inferencing

The use of quantitative methods, implementation of the study over a long period, and large sample sizes imply external reliability for generalization (Macnee and McCabe, 2008).  

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

The study does not specify the inclusion and exclusion criteria for its sampling.

Intervention and Control

The study does not have any intervention or control measure (Strotmeyer et al., 2010).

Test Analysis and Research Variables and Design

Percentages, analysis of variance, Chi-Square test, and logistic regression were used in the study and all of them are appropriate to the study’s objective, hypothesis, and the nominal scale of variables. The tests estimate probability or error through p-values.

Validity and Reliability of outcomes

The inferences are accurate because of applied data collection tools such as laboratory tests and questionnaires, applied quantitative method, and use of objective analysis while application of large sample size the longitudinal scope identifies reliability (Strotmeyer et al., 2010).

Relevance

The study’s problem is very significant to clinical practice because it investigates factors to follow up for better care and is therefore important to improving care (Strotmeyer et al., 2010).

Literature Review

The literature review is brief but explorative, identifying factors to the problem such as follow up, retention, possible factors to retention. The literature however has a wide range of publication dates (Strotmeyer et al., 2010).

Level of Evidence

The study demonstrates level IV evidence that was obtained from a single longitudinal study (Ghaemi, 2009).

Possible implementation

I could implement the study in my own clinical practice by offering home-based services, telephone services, and proxy visits for improving follow up and retention of the elderly and other groups of patients to improve recovery during follow up.

Threats to Validity and Reliability

Bias, history, maturation, testing, and regression confounds are potential threats to validity in the study (Miller and Young, 2007; Roberts and Ilardi, 2008). The use of faulty laboratory equipment and bias are however possible reliability threats (Robertson and Williams, 2009). No measure ensured control of any of the threats. The use of different facilities is the only control measure and applies to bias and instrumentation threats.