Which research methodologies should you choose for your study?
Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat diseases. Treatments might be new drugs or new combinations of drugs, new surgical procedures or devices, or new ways to use existing treatments. The goal of clinical trials is to determine if a new test or treatment works and is safe. Clinical trials can also look at other aspects ...
Why do we need health research?
In 1968, the National Center for Health Services Research and Development was established as part of the U.S. Public Health Services to address concerns with access to health services, quality of care, and costs. The Center funded demonstration projects to measure quality and investigator-initiated research grants.
What do Americans think about health research?
· Editor’s Note: The purpose of this Editor’s Choice article is translational in nature. It is intended to illustrate some of the most common examples of potential study bias to help policy makers, journalists, trainees, and the public understand the strengths and weaknesses of various types of health care research and the kinds of study designs that are most trustworthy.
Is the treatment or drug being studied better than what is used?
· Abstract. Summary: Existing research on the patient experience has focused on patients in the hospital and other medical settings. We investigate the perceptions of people who may not self-identify as being patients. This innovative approach of the “street study” aims to understand what people want from health care.
What type of research is used in healthcare?
Three main areas of medical research can be distinguished by study type: basic (experimental), clinical, and epidemiological research.
How do we use research in healthcare?
Some of the common aims for conducting research studies are to: Diagnose diseases and health problems. Prevent the development or recurrence of disease and reduce the number of people who become ill. Treat illness to improve survival rates or increase the number of people who are cured.
Why do we need to research about health?
The Importance of Health Research. Like privacy, health research has high value to society. It can provide important information about disease trends and risk factors, outcomes of treatment or public health interventions, functional abilities, patterns of care, and health care costs and use.
What is treatment in healthcare?
Definition of medical treatment. Medical treatment means the management and care of a patient to combat disease or disorder. Medical treatment includes: All treatment not otherwise excluded (below). Using prescription medications, or use of a non-prescription drug at prescription strength.
What is health system research?
Health systems research (HSR), a scientific method for obtaining relevant and reliable information for better management of the health system with subsequent improvement in both individual and national development, is an essential component of the health care system.
What is research used for in health and social care?
What is health and social care research? Health and social care research aims to find out new knowledge that could lead to changes to health treatments, policies or care.
What are the four purposes of health research?
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) categorizes health research in four broad themes: Biomedical research. Clinical research. Research respecting health systems and services.
What is the example of treatment?
Treatment is the manner in which something or a disease is cared for or dealt with. An example of treatment is when someone is cared for very well. An example of treatment is when you are given antibiotics for your illness. The act, manner, or method of handling or dealing with someone or something.
What are the types of treatment?
Types of Treatment MethodsTargeted Therapies: A targeted therapy is designed to treat only the cancer cells and minimize damage to normal, healthy cells. ... Chemotherapy: ... Surgery: ... Radiation Therapies: ... Biological Therapy: ... Hormonal Therapy:
What are examples of medical treatments?
Physical therapy, speech therapy, psychiatry, and physiotherapy are equally part of medical treatments. For certain illnesses, it is necessary to resort to surgical treatment. Certain examinations are situated between traditional treatments and surgery, such as, radiology, endoscopy, and phototherapy.
Why is clinical research important?
By placing some people at risk of harm for the good of others, clinical research has the potential to exploit patient volunteers. The purpose of ethical guidelines is both to protect patient volunteers and to preserve the integrity of the science.
Why do people participate in clinical trials?
A study’s benefits may be indirect for the volunteers but may help others. People participate in clinical trials for a variety of reasons. Healthy volunteers say they participate to help others and to contribute to moving science forward. Participants with an illness or disease also participate to help others, but also to possibly receive ...
Why are clinical trials approved?
Most, but not all, clinical trials in the United States are approved and monitored by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) in order to ensure that the risks are minimal and are worth any potential benefits. An IRB is an independent committee that consists of physicians, statisticians, and members of the community who ensure that clinical trials are ethical and that the rights of participants are protected. Potential research participants should ask the sponsor or research coordinator whether the research they are considering participating in was reviewed by an IRB.
What are the risks of participating in a clinical study?
Most clinical studies pose the risk of minor discomfort, which lasts only a short time. However, some study participants experience complications that require medical attention. In rare cases, participants have been seriously injured or have died of complications resulting from their participation in trials of experimental therapies. The specific risks associated with a research protocol are described in detail in the informed consent document, which participants are asked to read and sign before participating in research. Also, a member of the research team explains the major risks of participating in a study and will answer any questions you have about the study. Before deciding to participate, carefully consider possible risks and benefits.
What is clinical trial?
What is a clinical trial? Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat diseases. Treatments might be new drugs or new combinations of drugs, new surgical procedures or devices, or new ways to use existing treatments.
What are the criteria for participation in a clinical trial?
All clinical trials have guidelines about who can participate, called inclusion/exclusion criteria. Factors that allow someone to participate in a clinical trial are “inclusion criteria.”. Those that exclude or do not allow participation are “exclusion criteria.”. These criteria are based on factors such as age, gender, ...
How to join a study?
Once you find a study that you might want to join, contact the clinical trial or study coordinator. You can usually find this contact information in the description of the study. The next step is a screening appointment to see if you qualify to participate. This appointment also gives you a chance to ask your questions about the study.
Why is it important to investigate health care?
Due to the complexities of health care services and systems, investigating and interpreting the use, costs, quality, accessibility, delivery, organization, financing, and outcomes of health care services is key to informing government officials, insurers, providers, consumers, and others making decisions about health-related issues.
What is health services research?
Health services research is the multidisciplinary field of scientific investigation that studies how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, health technologies, and personal behaviors affect access to health care, the quality and cost of health care, and ultimately our health and well-being.
Why is HSR important?
HSR applied at the population level is particularly important in understanding health system performance and the impact of health policy on the public’s health.
How can HSR be used to improve quality of care?
Comparisons of current practice to evidence-based standards with feedback to clinicians and the integration of patient-reported outcomes are two examples of how HSR tools can be used to provide quality-improvement information for health care organizations. These examples utilize multiple data sources, including medical records, patient surveys, and administrative data. The opportunities for nurse researchers to provide invaluable contributions to the growing field of health services research are innumerable.
What is HSR research?
The field of health services research ( HSR) is relied on by decisionmakers and the public to be the primary source of information on how well health systems in the United States and other countries are meeting this challenge.
How many preventive visits did Medicare beneficiaries have?
Sixty-three percent of those in the intervention group had at least one preventive visit. Significant differences were found in health outcomes between intervention and control groups.
Why should patients not be harmed by health care services?
Patient Safety:Patients should not be harmed by health care services that are intended to help them. The IOM report, To Err Is Human,26found that between 46,000 and 98,000 Americans were dying in hospitals each year due to medical errors. Subsequent research has found medical errors common across all health care settings. The problem is not due to the lack of dedication to quality care by health professionals, but due to the lack of systems that prevent errors from occurring and/or prevent medical errors from reaching the patient.
What is the most common form of health research?
Perhaps the most familiar form of health research is the clinical trial, in which patients volunteer to participate in studies to test the efficacy and safety of new medical interventions. But an increasingly large portion of health research is now information based.
Why is health research important?
Like privacy, health research has high value to society. It can provide important information about disease trends and risk factors, outcomes of treatment or public health interventions, functional abilities, patterns of care, and health care costs and use.
Why is it important for IRBs and Privacy Boards to correctly distinguish among activities that are or are not subject to
It is important for IRBs and Privacy Boards to correctly distinguish among activities that are or are not subject to the various provisions of the Privacy Rule and the Common Rule. Only research requires formal IRB or Privacy Board review and informed consent. 33 Inappropriate classification of an activity as research can make it difficult or impossible for important health care activities, such as public health practice and quality improvement, to be undertaken. On the other hand, failure to correctly identify an activity as research could potentially allow improper disclosure of personally identifiable health information without sufficient oversight.
What is the common rule in health care?
The Common Rule and Privacy Rule make a somewhat artificial distinction between health research and some closely related health care practices, such as public health practice, quality improvement activities, program evaluations, 30 and utilization reviews, 31 all of which may involve collection and analysis of personally identifiable health information. However, determining which activities meet the definition of “research” is a major challenge for IRBs, Privacy Boards, 32 investigators, and health care practitioners because neither the regulations nor their interpretations by HHS provide clear guidance on how to distinguish research from activities that use similar techniques to analyze health information ( IOM, 2000a ).
How to make information about research studies more broadly available to the public?
One way to make information about research studies more broadly available to the public is through registration of trials and other studies in public databases. HHS should encourage such registration of trials and other studies, particularly when research is conducted with an IRB/ Privacy Board approved waiver of consent or authorization (see Chapter 4 ). Numerous clinical trial registries already exist, and registration has increased in recent years (reviewed by Zarin and Tse, 2008 ). In 2000, the National Library of Medicine established a clinical trials registry ( ClinicalTrials.gov ), which has expanded to include information from several other trial registries and to serve as the FDA-required site for submissions about clinical trials subject to the FDA databank requirement. The FDA Amendments Act of 2007 38 expanded the scope of required registrations at ClinicalTrials.gov and provided the first federally funded trials results database. It mandates registrations of controlled clinical investigations, except for Phase I trials, of drugs, biologics, and devices subject to FDA regulation.
How can the community be involved in health research?
Ethicists have long suggested greater community involvement in health research studies, including more communication about research results (reviewed by Shalowitz and Miller, 2008a, b ). In addition, the IOM committee identified transparency—the responsibility to disclose clearly how and why personally identifiable information is being collected—as an important component of comprehensive privacy protections. A previous IOM report also recommended improved communication with the public and research participants to ensure that the protection process is open and accessible to all interested parties ( IOM, 2002 ). Effective communication would build the public’s trust of the research community and is consistent with the principles of fair information practices.
What is considered a human subject?
Under the Common Rule, a “human subject” is defined as “a living individual about whom an investigator … conducting research obtains (1) Data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or (2) Identifiable private information.” Private information is considered to be personally identifiable if the identity of the subject is or may readily be ascertained by the investigator or associated with the information.
Essential Questions
What health topic do I want to learn more about? Is there anything I already know about the health topic I’m interested in?
Activities
Introduction and Ice Breaking. It can be a challenge to get students to feel comfortable around each other, especially in groups with different age or grade levels. This game helps students get past that initial feeling of shyness. See More.
Introduction and Ice Breaking
Tell students to grab a handful of M&M’s (or other multicolor candy like Skittles, Gummi Bears) but don’t eat them yet. (or put them in cups beforehand to avoid craziness!)
Plan
Spend some time getting to know the group of kids you are working with and let them get to know you. Introduce the HackHealth program to the students.
Suggestion
Revisit these brainstorming posters at the end of the program to see if students’ initial personal goals (d) were met or if they thought of other goals throughout the program.
What is the Research Process?
Ask students: Have you ever researched anything, either for class or for your own personal knowledge?
Plan
This is structured time for kids to take a first try at looking for information about their topic. This activity will give students a general idea of what Internet resources are out there on their topic and help them to think deeper about their research questions.
How to evaluate the effects of a health technology?
Researchers often attempt to evaluate the effects of a health technology by comparing the health of patients whose physicians use the technology with the health of patients whose physicians do not. But if the 2 groups of physicians (or hospitals) are different (eg, older vs younger, high volume vs low volume of services), those differences might account for the difference in patient health, not the technology being studied.
What is the most ubiquitous threat to the trustworthiness of health research?
Selection biases may be the most ubiquitous threat to the trustworthiness of health research. Selection bias occurs when differences between treatment recipients and nonrecipients or control groups (based on such factors as income, race, or health) may be the true cause of an observed health effect rather the treatment or policy itself.
How many studies have been published on hip fractures?
More than 2 dozen epidemiological studies of hip fractures and benzodiazepines have been published since the original report in 1987 (37). Similar to the flip-flopping results of studies of the risks and benefits of HRT (3), results of these later studies conflicted with each other and with the early reports.
Why are cross sectional studies excluded?
This weak cross-sectional design would be excluded because of inadequate evidence of the effects of medical services and policies by systematic reviewers adhering to the standards of the international Cochrane Collaboration (27). The study compared outcomes (eg, blood pressure control) of sites with EHRs and sites without EHRs at one point in time after the introduction of EHRs but did not provide data on such outcomes before the introduction of EHRs; no measure of change was provided. It is virtually impossible to statistically equalize the groups on the hundreds of differences (selection biases) that might have caused differences in blood pressure outcomes; thus, such designs are among the weakest study designs in research attempting to establish cause and effect (9).
What is a case example of healthy user bias?
This case example describes healthy user bias in studies attempting to compare healthy users of influenza (flu) vaccines with unhealthy nonusers (eg, frail, severely ill) and attributing the differences to the vaccines. Flawed results of poorly designed experiments have dictated national vaccination policies. More rigorous longitudinal studies suggest that national flu vaccine campaigns have not lowered mortality rates in the elderly.
Why are case control studies weak?
Case-control studies or “look-back” studies are weak designs for evaluating medical treatments or other interventions because researchers try to draw conclusions when comparing patients whose differences, not treatment, may account for an effect. A stronger research method is the longitudinal natural experiment, in which researchers follow a group over time as their medications or policies that affect them change.
What does "assess" mean in health care?
Assess means to reduce selection bias in health care research. Assess how to overcome confounding factors by indication in health care research. Evaluate social desirability bias and history bias in health care research.
What do people want from their health care?
What people want from their health care goes to the core of the doctor-patient relationship. Doctors need to listen, to care and be compassionate, and to be transparent and open with patients. They need to be accessible, practice in interdisciplinary teams, and demonstrate that they have patients’ best interests at heart. Innovations that aim for patient-centeredness should encourage doctors to practice medicine in the way that patients need. We hope future studies will make use of our methodology to ensure that patients — people — are at the center of caring partnerships that prioritize dignity and respect.
What were the questions asked in the Mayo Clinic survey?
Participants were asked their age and gender. They were then asked two questions, the answers to which were directly transcribed. These questions were revised based on a telephone survey of Mayo Clinic patients that was pretested within a focus group of ten local community members. [ 3] First, respondents were asked to recall a positive and negative experience with health care, and to explain the factors that made it such. Second, they were asked what can be done to most improve health care in the US.
What are the soft skills of a doctor?
Several studies have shown that, when choosing doctors, patients rarely mention technical expertise, but rather concentrate on empathy and ability to provide clear explanations. [ 3] [ 4] [ 5]
What is the purpose of the street study?
We used an innovative methodology of the “street study” that literally took us to the streets to find out what people want from their health care.
Why do people wait at the doctor's office?
While studies of hospitalized patients and those who just received medical care have found that wait times decrease patient satisfaction, [ 9] few people brought up the inconvenience of waiting at a doctor’s office. When the issue of waiting was brought up, it was primarily in reference to access to seeing the doctor when urgent issues arose.
Is patient centered care a goal?
The Institute of Medicine has deemed patient-centered care as a dimension in its own right, [ 1] and many innovations highlight patient-centeredness as a primary goal. [ 2]
Why did you choose health care?
As we prepare for our annual client conference, ACE13, I’ve been on the road to meet with clients. A small team of us are gathering stories about how they are transforming health care. We can’t wait to share them.
Ariana Nikitas
Ariana Nikitas was director of communications at Allscripts. In this role she oversaw client communications, public relations, crisis communications, internal communications and the client reference program to improve client engagement, satisfaction and retention.
Do You Need Research Experience to Get Into Med School?
A research background may be necessary to successfully compete for a spot at a top-tier research-focused medical school. Aspiring physician scientists who want to pursue a medical degree and a Ph.D.
How Important Research Is Compared to Other Admissions Criteria
A premed's first priority should be fulfilling the admission requirements for medical school, Jacobs says. Once those requirements have been met, premeds can devote time and effort to research experiences.
The Difference Between Excellent and Mediocre Research
Some research experiences are definitely better than others, say current and former medical school officials.
The Best Way to Conduct Premed Research
Solid research requires significant time and effort, experts say, so it is best to begin premed research early in college to allow ample time for experimentation and data analysis. Premeds should also focus on researching subjects they care about and take time to learn about the nuances of their research topics.
The Value of Research for Premeds
The vast majority of med school applicants have research experience, Capers says. "Those who do not have research usually have something else that's really on the ball, like maybe they've worked as a paramedic for two or three years or they did some other really terrific experience."
The Subject of Your Research Matters Less Than the Quality
"There is a misconception that future clinicians should be conducting bench research in so-called 'wet' labs, surrounded by test tubes, reagents, and cell cultures," Dr. McGreggor Crowley, a pediatric gastroenterologist who is also a counselor at the IvyWise admissions consulting firm, wrote in an email.
Why is conducting research important?
Choosing the correct research methodology can determine the success and overall quality of your report. It is hence essential to get the initial stage of your research right. In this article, we discuss the research methodologies in detail and help you identify which method should you choose for your study.
What are the two approaches to collecting data?
There are two general approaches to collecting data: quantitative and qualitative research . Let us understand in detail.
What is qualitative analysis?
In qualitative research, the analysis will be based on image, language, and observations (generally involving form of textual-analysis). Specific methods might include: Content-analysis: Discussing and categorizing meaning of sentences, words, and phrases.
Which is more challenging to analyze: quantitative or qualitative data?
Qualitative data is more challenging to analyze than the quantitative data. It consists of images, text or videos instead of numbers.
Which is better, qualitative or quantitative?
A thumb rule for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is: Using quantitative analysis works better if you want to confirm or test something (a theory or hypothesis) Using qualitative research works better if you wish to understand something (concepts, thoughts, experiences)
Why do you conduct interviews?
Let's say you conduct interviews to find out how satisfied the students are with their studies and their answers provide new insights. Later, you use the survey as a tool to test the insights on a large scale.
What is observation in psychology?
Observations: This involves observing people in their natural environment where variables can't be controlled.
