Qualitative Research Methods For Excessive Cholesterol And Cardiovascular Disease Essay.

Describe the Qualitative Research Methods For Excessive Cholesterol.

Cholesterol assists the bodies build fresh cells, protect nerves and also helps in producing hormones. Usually the liver prepare cholesterol which the body requires. But it also enters the human body from items of food, such as animal based foods. Excessive cholesterol in your body is a risk factor for diseases of the heart. In situations where there is excess of cholesterol in the blood, it develops in the walls of the human arteries causing a certain process called atherosclerosis which is a form of heart disease (1). There is the narrowing of the arteries and the blood flow to the heart muscle is either slowed down or blocked. The blood carries oxygen to the heart and in case enough oxygen and blood does not reach the heart a person might suffer chest pain. In case the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, it results in a heart attack. There are usually two types of cholesterol that many people are familiar with. These include low density lipoprotein or “bad cholesterol” and high density lipoprotein or “good cholesterol”. These are the forms in which cholesterol travels in the blood (2).

High cholesterol is not responsible for any specific symptoms so many people are not aware about their cholesterol levels being too high. Thus it is important to find out what the cholesterol numbers are for any particular person. Lowering the cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk for development of a heart disease lessens the risk for the development of heart disease and decreases the chances of a heart attack or risk of dying due to decrease of the heart (3).

The topic of research in this case is related to the cholesterol levels and also related to the cardiovascular disease. It aims to find the connection between the cholesterol levels and the cardiovascular disease. The research questions pertaining to the particular hypothesis are discussed in the results section. It also includes the tables and the results which have been calculated in SPSS version 20.

The data are given with respect to the age, gender along with their names and the other details namely their height, weight, the BMI, the blood glucose level, the blood cholesterol level, the systolic blood pressure, the diastolic blood pressure, the history of CVD (Cardio vascular disease) and also the eating patterns. The data are analyzed in order to understand the relations or the impact of the eating patterns or the overall health mainly the blood pressure on the cardiovascular disease on the individuals.

Research Topic

The variable name in this case is the blood cholesterol. The type of the variable is continuous and the role is primary in order to understand the outcome of the variable and the measuring unit is that of mg/dl. The monitoring of the heart is an important aspect in this particular research method and in the analysis.

The study is basically observational in nature which is basically a study on the Shinobi Islander who consented to the study during the year 267. Of all the consenting individuals, only those who were the ages of 40 or above were considered to be consenting.

The research pertained to the Shinobi Island. The procedure consisted of knocking of the door of each and every town looking for people who were aged 40 or above. After the suitable residents were found who were eligible for the survey, 31 were serially selected starting form the first house. In case consent was given, then the data needs to be collected. The sample size n=31. In case no consent is given then the individuals are excluded from the survey. In this case the value of n=5.

The above table shows the variables and the nature of the variables. The variables mentioned are blood pressure, blood glucose BMI, gender age and finally the body weight. Whether the variables are nominal, continuous or of any other nature are mentioned.

The frequency table for the required data is mentioned in the results section. It is clear from the tables that the number of male respondents for the data is 19 and the number of female respondents is 12. The number of data which is valid is 31. There is no amount of missing data.

The majority of the respondents are male and about 38.71% are female. A table showing whether the males or females have any history of cardiovascular disease is given. The valid percentages are given in the table as also the cumulative percentages. 

In order to conduct this study, the hypotheses stated below will be tested. The respective research questions, null hypotheses and alternate hypotheses have been stated as follows.

Research Question 1: Is there any significant difference between the blood glucose level of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Null hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference between the blood glucose level of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Alternate hypothesis 1: There is significant difference between the blood glucose level of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Data

To test the above stated hypothesis, independent sample t test has to be run in SPSS. Here, the equality of means of the two groups of people – having and not having cardio vascular diseases in terms of the level of glucose in the blood. From the results of the t-test, given in table 5, it can be said that the p-value is 0.659, which is greater than 0.05, the level of significance at 95% confidence interval. Thus, from here, it can be said that the null hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, there is no significant difference in the blood sugar levels of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular diseases.  

Research Question 2: Is there any significant difference between the blood cholesterol level of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Null hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference between the blood cholesterol level of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Alternate hypothesis 2: There is significant difference between the blood cholesterol level of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

To test the above stated hypothesis, independent sample t test has to be run in SPSS. Here, the equality of means of the two groups of people – having and not having cardio-vascular diseases in terms of the level of cholesterol in the blood. From the results of the t-test, given in table 7, it can be said that the p-value is 0.286, which is greater than 0.05, the level of significance at 95% confidence interval. Thus, from here, it can be said that the null hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, there is no significant difference in the blood cholesterol levels of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular diseases.

Research Question 3: Is there any significant difference between the systolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Null hypothesis 3: There is no significant difference between the systolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Alternate hypothesis 3: There is significant difference between the systolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

To test the above stated hypothesis, independent sample t test has to be run in SPSS. Here, the equality of means of the two groups of people – having and not having cardio-vascular diseases in terms of the systolic blood pressure of the respondents. From the results of the t-test, given in table 9, it can be said that the p-value is 0.471, which is greater than 0.05, the level of significance at 95% confidence interval. Thus, from here, it can be said that the null hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, there is no significant difference in the systolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular diseases.

Methods

Research Question 4: Is there any significant difference between the diastolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Null hypothesis 4: There is no significant difference between the diastolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

Alternate hypothesis 4: There is significant difference between the diastolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular Diseases

To test the above stated hypothesis, independent sample t test has to be run in SPSS. Here, the equality of means of the two groups of people – having and not having cardio vascular diseases in terms of the diastolic blood pressure of the respondents. From the results of the t-test, given in table 11, it can be said that the p-value is 0.309, which is greater than 0.05, the level of significance at 95% confidence interval. Thus, from here, it can be said that the null hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, there is no significant difference in the diastolic blood pressure of the people having and not having Cardio-Vascular diseases.

It is evident from the tables and graphs that there is no amount of significant difference between the people having history of cardiovascular disease and this is with respect to the blood glucose, the blood cholesterol, the systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure. Thus it can be said the data do not in any way point to the fact that there is any sort of relation between the cardiovascular disease history and any symptoms of blood pressure.

Moreover, theoretically, cardio-vascular diseases are more likely to occur in patients suffering from high systolic and diastolic blood pressure, high blood sugar blood cholesterol level. This is not the case here. The results could have been altered if a larger sample size had been taken for the purpose of the study. The sample of 31 individuals is not sufficient to represent the whole population of the island of Shinobi.

References

Lavie CJ, McAuley PA, Church TS, Milani RV, Blair SN. Obesity and cardiovascular diseases: implications regarding fitness, fatness, and severity in the obesity paradox. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2014 Apr 15;63(14):1345-54.

Bastien M, Poirier P, Lemieux I, Després JP. Overview of epidemiology and contribution of obesity to cardiovascular disease. Progress in cardiovascular diseases. 2014 Feb 28;56(4):369-81.

Appelman Y, van Rijn BB, Monique E, Boersma E, Peters SA. Sex differences in cardiovascular risk factors and disease prevention. Atherosclerosis. 2015 Jul 31;241(1):211-8.