Application: Critiquing Quantitative, Qualitative, or Mixed Methods Studies – Walden University

Qualitative Research Critique

Le Saux, N., & Robinson, J. L. (2016, Jan-Feb). Management of acute otitis media in children six months of age and older. Paediatric Child Health, 21(1), 39-44. Retrieved January 12, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4758427/pdf/pch-21-39.pdf

1. Research Issue and Purpose

The article looks at the prevailing strategies employed in the management of Acute Otitis Media (AOM) in children six months and older. The purpose of the research study is to identify the most effective medication alternatives available for the management of AOM.

2. Researcher Pre-understandings

The introduction and literature review provide some perspective on the authors’ perception and comprehension of the nature, scope, and depth of the issue addressed. However, they fail to outline clearly these pre-understandings as the reader is left to deduce this information from the introduction and literature review.

3. Literature Review

The authors integrate the literature review throughout the structure of the article as the paper is a systematic review. The authors employ a wide range of sources that span and 18-year period, i.e., between 1997 and 2015. As such, the authors provide a good background and overview of the development of the topic over time. Most of the sources are current, i.e., they have been published in the past 10 years. These articles are also peer-reviewed as they are sources from academic journals.

4. Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

The authors fail to define a theoretical or conceptual framework that guides the research study.

5. Participants

The study is a systematic review of studies that have been conducted on the management of AOM in children above the age of 6 months. As such, the study employs a wide range of sources, clearly identifying the participants included in each research study employed in the systematic review.

6. Protection of Human Participants

The authors took into consideration the ethical requirements of research, making use of research studies that had employed blinding to ensure the privacy and protection of human participants.

7. Research Design

The authors employ two methodological steps for the analysis of existing literature on the management of AOM, i.e., thematic structural analysis and comprehensive reading. They employ a thematic approach in analyzing literature on the management of AOM.

8. Data Collection/Generation Methods

While authors do not explicitly define the data collection methods, they employ a systematic review that extracts information employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).

9. Credibility

The authors compare the results obtained from different studies, providing a good basis and foundation for the credibility of their findings.

10. Data Analysis

Thematic structural analysis and comprehensive understanding to execute a phenomenological-hermeneutic analysis of literature.

11. Findings

The authors find that for children who are moderate to severely systematically ill or have a very severe otalgia, highly febrile (≥39°C) or have been significantly ill for 48 hours. They also find that an antibiotic prescription is recommended for all other cases. Additionally, they conclude that amoxicillin retains its position as the ideal treatment drug for AOM.

12. Discussion of Findings

The authors do not explicitly provide no conceptual or theoretical framework. As such, the discussion of findings cannot be assessed in relation to the framework.

13. Limitations

The authors fail to provide any limitations associated with their research study.

14. Implications

The conclusions and implications drawn by the author warrant the study findings. They hold that the choice and dose of the antimicrobial are vital for effective treatment.

15. Recommendations

The authors recommend that effective AOM diagnosis requires the onset of symptoms, such as middle ear infection, otalgia, or a rapture TM. Healthy children who are six months and older require reassessment within 24 to 48 hours or provide an antimicrobial prescription. Antimicrobials should be employed to treat children with a bulging TM and are febrile,

16. Research Utilization in Your Practice

This research can highlight the situations and conditions under which antimicrobial treatment can be employed for children who are six months and older.

Quantitative Research Critique

El-Shabrawi, M. H., Tolba, O. A., & El-Adly, T. (2016, Aptil). Efficacy and safety of cefpodoxime in the treatment of acute otitis media in children. The Gazette of the Egyptian Paediatric Association, 64(2), 81-85. doi:10.1016/j.epag.2016.03.001

1. Research Problem and Purpose

The authors highlight the treatment of AOM as a challenge with regards to treatment failure. The studies is designed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of cefpodoxime proxetil in treating acute AOM in children

2. Hypotheses and Research Questions

The research study does not explicitly define the hypotheses for the study, However, the reader can infer from the methodology that the study is guided by the need to ascertain the efficacy of cefpodoxime proxetil as a viable treatment option for AOM.

3. Literature Review

The author integrates a literature review in the introduction of the study. The study employs a total of 22 sources, all of which are scholarly and peer-reviewed journal articles. These sources range from 1997 to 2015, offering a good foundational overview of the application of AOM treatment alternatives.

4. Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

The authors do not provide an explicit conceptual or theoretical framework.

5. Population

The researchers employ a study population that comprises of 1,380 children aged one to thirteen years who present clinically diagnosed AOM. These children also had to be suspected to have AOM of bacterial origin to be eligible for the study. They also employed exclusion criteria that restricted cefpodoxime contraindications.

6. Protection of Human Research Participants

The researchers provided a written informed parental/guardian’s consent form prior to participants enrolling in the study. Additionally, blinding was employed to eliminate any information that may identify participants.

7. Research Design

The authors explicitly define the research design which borrows from existing literature on the same issue.

8. Instruments and Strategies for Measurement

The authors fail to specify the instruments employed in data collection.

9. Data Collection

Data were collected through observation and the application of tests to collect clinical data.

10. Data Analysis

The authors employed SPSS as a data analysis tool expressing numerical data as means and standard deviation. On the other hand, qualitative data was defined as percentage and frequency. The statistical significance of the quantitative data was ascertained using a chi-square test.

11. Interpretation of Results

The results of the study show that 82.5% of patients using cefpodoxime were cured while 16.4% experienced improvement, and 1.1% failing to respond to treatment. The cure and improvement rate were recorded at 100% in all symptoms, except nasal discharge (93.5%), purulent discharge (98.5%), and spontaneous otorrhea (98.0%)

12. Discussion of findings

Since an explicit theoretical or conceptual framework is not provided, it is difficult to assess the discussion of the findings against the framework.

13. Limitations

The authors detail no limitations associated with their study.

14. Implications

The conclusions and implications drawn by the author warrant the study findings. They hold that the choice and dose of the antimicrobial are vital for effective treatment.

15. Recommendations

The authors recommend cefpodoxime as a safe AOM treatment alternative for bacterial AOM.

16. Research Utilization in Your Practice

This research can highlight the situations and conditions under which antimicrobial treatment can be employed for children who are six months and older.

References

El-Shabrawi, M. H., Tolba, O. A., & El-Adly, T. (2016, Aptil). Efficacy and safety of cefpodoxime in the treatment of acute otitis media in children. The Gazette of the Egyptian Paediatric Association, 64(2), 81-85. doi:10.1016/j.epag.2016.03.001

Harmes, K. M., Blackwood, A., Burrows, H. L., Cooke, J. M., Van Harrison, R., & Passamani, P. P. (2013, October). Otitis Media: Diagnosis and Treatment. American Family Physician, 88(7), 435-440.

Le Saux, N., & Robinson, J. L. (2016, Jan-Feb). Management of acute otitis media in children six months of age and older. Paediatric Child Health, 21(1), 39-44. Retrieved January 12, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4758427/pdf/pch-21-39.pdf

Qureishi, A., Lee, Y., Belfield, K., Birchall, J. P., & Daniel, M. (2014, January). Update on otitis media – prevention and treatment. Infection and Drug Resistance, 7, 15-24. doi:10.2147/IDR.S39637

Thomas, J. P., Berner, R., Zahnert, T., & Dazert, S. (2014, February). Acute Otitis Media – A Structured Approach. Deutsches Arzteblatt International, 111(9), 151-160. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2014.0151