Critical Appraisal of a Research Article

Discussion

Assessment Task 3: Written Assignment - Critical Appraisal of a Research Article (1800 words) - 45% Description:

This is an individual assignment which requires you to conduct a detailed and systematic critical appraisal of a research article. This critical appraisal will require you to examine a research article, evaluate it according to what you have learned in this unit, and consider how the results might inform practice.

Instructions: You have two articles to choose from for this critique (found in the assessment folder in LEO). One is a report of quantitative research and the other is a report of qualitative research. Select the one that most appeals to you. In particular, you are required to:

1.Present the assignment as a scholarly/academic essay with an introduction, body and conclusion. oThe introduction should present the overall topic and purpose of the essay, how you will address it, and why it is important to be able to assess a research study. oThe body will follow the research process set out in the article and will include all aspects of your appraisal and critique. oThe conclusion should be a brief overview of the main points you have made in the body. No new information should be included.

2.During your appraisal: oconsider both the strengths and weaknesses of the article, and odiscuss how the recommendations from the article could be used in evidence-based clinical practice (EBP)

3.Students are strongly advised to use the Marking Guide and detailed instruction in LEO as a guide when writing the essay.

4.This essay should be approximately ± 10% of 1800 words, 1.5/double spaced, 1” margins, 12 point font, with a range of relevant scholarly references and using APA referencing. The format follows the research process Detailed instructions for Assessment Task 3: Critical Appraisal of a Research Article (1800 words) – 45% Description: This is an individual assignment which requires you to conduct a detailed and systematic critical appraisal of a research article. This critical appraisal will require you to examine a research article, evaluate it according to what you have learned in this unit, and consider how the results might inform practice. Instructions: Choose one of the following articles for this critique.

(Quantitative article). Ackerman, I., Osborne, R. (2012). Obesity and increased burden of hip and knee joint disease in Australia: results of a national survey. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 13:254 / • (Qualitative article). Porter, E. (199). ‘Getting up from here’: frail older women’s experiences after falling. Rehabilitation Nursing. 24(5) 201-206.  In particular, you are required to: 1. Present the assignment as a scholarly/academic essay with an introduction, body and conclusion. o The introduction should present the overall topic and purpose of the essay, how you will address it, and why it is important to be able to assess a research study. o The body will follow the research process set out in the article and will include all aspects of your appraisal and critique. o The conclusion should be a brief overview of the main points you have made in the body. No new information should be included. 2. During your appraisal: o consider both the strengths and weaknesses of the article, and o discuss how the recommendations from the article could be used in evidencebased clinical practice (EBP) 3. Students are strongly advised to use the Marking Guide and detailed instruction in LEO as a guide when writing the essay. 4. This essay should be approximately ± 10% of 1800 words, 1.5/double spaced, 1” margins, 12 point font, with a range of relevant scholarly references and using APA referencing. The format follows the research process Instructions: 1. This essay should be formatted as a scholarly paper.

Be sure to begin with a short introductory section to present the overall topic and purpose of the essay, how you will address it, and why it is important to be able to assess a research study. 2. A guideline to assessing quantitative and qualitative articles will provide you with guiding questions to consider as you evaluate the article you have chosen. You can access the guidelines from the electronic learning system. It is important that you critically and systematically appraise all aspects of the chosen article. 3. Based on the article you appraised, consider both the strengths and weaknesses of the article, and discuss the recommendations that could be made in terms of implementing evidence-based clinical practice (EBP). 4. Students are strongly advised to use the Marking Guide as a guide when writing the essay. 5. This essay should be approximately ± 10% of 1800 words, 1.5/double spaced, 1” margins, 12 point font, with 15 scholarly references and using APA referencing. The format follows the research process HLSC122 ACADEMIC ESSAY – The above assessmenttask is best addressed using the following format: Introduction [Approx. 200 words] Your introduction should include a brief overview of the overall topic and the focus of your essay. Body [Approx. 1400 words] Use the quantitative or qualitative guideline to structure the paragraphs in the body of your essay. Ensure you critically appraise all aspects of the article, and discuss the clinical implications in relation to EBP. Conclusion [Approx. 200 words] The conclusion should give a briefsummary of the main points of the essayInstructions: Choose one of the following articles for this critique. • (Quantitative article). Ackerman, I., Osborne, R. (2012). Obesity and increased burden of hip and knee joint disease in Australia: results of a national survey. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 13:254  • (Qualitative article). Porter, E. (199). ‘Getting up from here’: frail older women’s experiences after falling. Rehabilitation Nursing. 24(5) 201-206.

Discussion

Introduction:

In this assignment we are going to critically appraise the article by Ackerman and Osborne in which the relationship between obesity and the diseases related to knee and hip joint is established.

Problem with knee and hip joint is now a day very common among the aged persons in our society (Medeiros, Araújo & Araújo, 2013). According to a survey carried out by the Government of Australia in the year 2011- 2012, around 3.3 million Australians are suffering from some kind of arthritis. Among them around 55.9% people are suffering from OA or osteoarthritis (Health.vic.gov.au, 2015). It has also been reported that the knee and hip joint diseases have more prevalence in women rather than men (Aihw.gov.au, 2015). Along with this with the advancement in technology, more and more people are leading a sedentary lifestyle, which increases the number of people affected by obesity. According to a study carried out by the government of Australia (2015), around 61% population of Australia are suffering from obesity or with the problem of overweight. It has been found that obesity increases the pressure on the joints which in case of aged persons is a serious problem as with the aging, the bone density decreases and risk of getting joint diseases increases (Hsu, Chou & Woollacott, 2012).

Studies have been carried out to relate hip OA and obesity and knee OA and obesity separately, but the studies carried out by the authors relating the obesity and hip and knee joint problems is the first of its kind in Australia.

Discussion:

In this part the article is critically appraised. Here we are going to discuss the aim of the study, methods used by the authors, the results and the interpretation of the result as well as the strength and weaknesses of the study.

The aim set by the authors include-

•    Evaluating the relationship between the occurrence of the knee and hip diseases such as arthritis and osteoarthritis and obesity in the population of Australia.

•    To determine whether obesity increases the severity of the joint related diseases i.e. increased pain, stiffness and decrease in HRQoL and the physical activity.

Methods:

For carrying out the research, the authors collected the data based on national cross sectional survey. The authors randomly selected 10000 individuals, aged above 39 years, based on the survey from almost all territories and states of Australia. Questionnaires were mailed to the selected persons along with proper introductory letters. The questionnaire consisted of three instruments:

•    Assessment of Quality of Life Instrument or AQoL. This instrument was used to evaluate the psychological well being, social relationships, independent living and physical senses of the selected individuals (Richardson et al., 2012).
•    The Hip and Knee MAPT also known as Hip and Knee Multi- Attribute Prioritisation tool which indicates the severity of the joint diseases. The result of the MAPT was obtained as scores.
•    The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index or WOMAC Index. This instrument was used to indicate the health condition related to a specific disease in this case the joint related diseases (Ackerman, 2009). The results were given as scores.