You are a manager on a medical unit in a community hospital. You are concerned about a recent increase in falls with injury on your unit. How might you assess this situation?
- Where might you find the data in your hospital to support your concern?
- What type of study could you perform to identify the cause(s) for the increase in falls with injury?
- How will you select your population of interest?
- How will you select a control group or comparison group?
- What are potential errors in measurement that you may encounter?
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What type of study design is this? Support your answer with rationale. Name 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of this type of study design and how is this type of study design used in epidemiology and population health?
What type of study design is this? Support your answer with rationale. Name 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of this type of study design and how is this type of study design used in epidemiology and population health?
To assess the situation of the recent increase in falls with injury on the medical unit, the following steps can be taken:
- Gathering Data: Data related to falls with injury can be found within the hospital’s incident reports, electronic health records (EHRs), and incident tracking systems. These sources should provide information about the patients who experienced falls, their demographics, the circumstances surrounding the falls, and the severity of the injuries.
- Analyzing the Data: The collected data should be thoroughly analyzed to identify patterns and trends. The analysis should focus on variables such as patient age, mobility status, medication use, staffing levels, and environmental factors. This will help identify potential factors contributing to the increase in falls.
- Conducting a Descriptive Study: A descriptive study can be performed to identify the causes for the increase in falls with injury. This study design involves describing and analyzing the characteristics of the falls and the patients involved, without manipulating any variables. The study can include retrospective analysis of incident reports and EHRs to identify commonalities among the falls, such as specific locations, times, or patient characteristics.
- Population of Interest: The population of interest would be the patients on the medical unit who have experienced falls with injury. This would include patients of different ages, medical conditions, and levels of mobility. It may also be beneficial to focus on specific subgroups, such as elderly patients or those with certain diagnoses.
- Control/Comparison Group: In this case, a control or comparison group may not be applicable, as the study aims to identify factors contributing to the increase in falls within the same unit. However, if there are other units in the hospital with lower fall rates, a comparison group could be selected from those units to identify potential differences in care practices or environmental factors.
- Potential Measurement Errors: When assessing falls with injury, potential errors in measurement may include underreporting or misclassification of falls, incomplete documentation of injury severity, and variation in incident reporting practices among staff members. It is important to consider these potential errors and take steps to minimize their impact on the study findings.
The study design described above is a descriptive study design. It aims to describe and analyze the characteristics of falls with injury on the medical unit without manipulating any variables.
Advantages of a descriptive study design:
- Provides an initial understanding: Descriptive studies help in generating hypotheses and identifying potential causes or factors related to falls with injury.
- Cost-effective and less time-consuming: Descriptive studies can be conducted relatively quickly and are less resource-intensive compared to other study designs.
Disadvantages of a descriptive study design:
- Limited causality: Descriptive studies cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship between variables.
- Potential biases: The study may be subject to various biases, including selection bias, information bias, or confounding, which can limit the accuracy of the findings.
Descriptive studies are commonly used in epidemiology and population health to gain an understanding of the distribution and characteristics of health-related events or phenomena. They provide a foundation for further research and intervention development by identifying potential risk factors and associations that can be investigated in more rigorous study designs, such as analytical or experimental studies.