StatisticsforNursing b b
b ResearchAWorkbook b b
forEvidence-Based
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b Practice3rdEdition
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b SusanGroveDaisha
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, AnswerGuidelinesforQuestionstoBeGraded b b b b b b
EXERCISE
Identifying Levels of b
1
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Measurement: Nominal, b b
b Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio b b b
Thequestionsareinboldfollowedbyanswers.
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1. In Table 1, identify the level of measurement for the current therapy variable. Provide a rationale for
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your answer.
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Answer: The current therapy variable was measured at the nominal level. These drug categorieswere
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probably developed to be exhaustive for this study and included the categories of drugs the subjects
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were receiving. However, the categories are not exclusive, since patients are usually on more than one
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category of these drugs to manage their health problems. The current therapies are not measured at
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the ordinal level because they cannot be rank ordered, since no drug category can be considered more
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or less beneficial than another drug category (see Figure 1-1; Grove & Gray, 2019).
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2. What is the mode for the current therapy variable in this study? Provide a rationale foryour
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answer.
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Answer: The mode for current therapy was βblocker. A total of 100 (94%) of the cardiac patients
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were receiving this category of drug, which was the most common prescribed drug for this
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sample.
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3. What statistics were conducted to describe the BMI of the cardiac patients in this sample? Discuss
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whether these analysis techniques were appropriate or inappropriate.
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Answer: BMI was described with a mean and standard deviation (SD). BMI measurement resulted in
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ratio-level data with continuous values and an absolute zero (Stone & Frazier, 2017). Ratio- level data
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should be analyzed with parametric statistics such as the mean and SD (Grove & Gray, 2017; Knapp,
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2017).
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4. Researchersusedthefollowingitemtomeasureregisterednurses’(RNs)incomeinastudy:What b b b b b b b b b b b b b b
category identifies yourcurrentincome asan RN?
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a. Lessthan$50,000
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b. $50,000to59,999
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c. $60,000to69,999
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d. $70,000to80,000
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e. $80,000orgreater b b b
What level of measurement is this income variable? Does the income variable follow the rules
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outlined in Figure 1-1? Provide a rationale for your answer.
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Answer: In this example, the income variable is measured at the ordinal level. The income catego- ries
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areexhaustive,rangingfromlessthan$50,000togreaterthan$80,000.Thetwoopen-ended
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AG1-1 b
,AG1-2
b Answer Guidelines for Questions to Be Graded b b b b b b
categoriesensurethatallsalarylevelsarecovered.Thecategoriesarenotexclusive,sincecatego-ries (d) b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b
and (e) include an $80,000 salary, so study participants making $80,000 might mark either (d) or (e)
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or both categories, resulting in erroneous data. Category (e) could be changed to greater than
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$80,000, making the categories exclusive. The categories can be rank ordered from the lowest salary
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to the highest salary, which is consistent with ordinal data (Grove & Gray, 2019;Waltzetal., 2017).
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5. WhatlevelofmeasurementistheCDSscore?Providearationaleforyouranswer.
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Answer: The CDS score is at the interval level of measurement. The CDS is a 26-item Likert scale b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b
developed to measure depression in cardiac patients. Study participants rated their symp- toms on a
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scale of 1 to 7, with higher numbers indicating increased severity in the depression symptoms. The
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total scores for each subject obtained from this multi-item scale are considered to be at the interval
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levelofmeasurement(Gray etal.,2017;Waltzetal.,2017).
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6. Were nonparametric or parametric analysis techniques used to analyze the CDS scores forthe cardiac
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patientsin this study? Provide a rationale foryouranswer.
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Answer: Parametric statistics, such as mean and SD, were conducted to describe CDS scores
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for study participants (see Table 1). CDS scores are interval-level data as indicated in Questions 5, so
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parametric statistics are appropriate for this level of data (Gray et al., 2017; Kim & Mallory, 2017).
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7. Is the prevalence of depression linked to the NYHA class? Discuss the clinical importance of this result.
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Answer: The study narrative indicated that the prevalence of depression increased with the greater
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NYHA class. In NYHA class III, 64% of the subjects were depressed, whereas 11% of the subjects were
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depressed in NYHA class I. Thus, as the NYHA class increased, the number of sub- jects with depression
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increased. This is an expected finding because as the NYHA class increases, cardiac patients have more
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severe physical symptoms, which usually result in emotional distress, such as depression. Nurses need
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to actively assess cardiac patients for depression, especially those in higher NYHA classes, so they
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mightbediagnosedand treatedasneeded.
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8. What frequency and percent of cardiac patients in this study were not being treated with an
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antidepressant? Show your calculations and round your answer to the nearest whole percent (%).
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Answer: A total of 106 cardiac patients participated in this study. The sample included 15 patients
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who were receiving an antidepressant (see Table 1). The number of cardiac patients not treated for
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depression was 91 (106 – 15 = 91). The group percent is calculated by the following formula:
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(group frequency ÷ total sample size) × 100%. For this study, (91 patients ÷ 106 sample size) ×
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100% = 0.858 × 100% = 85.8% = 86%. The finalanswer is rounded to the nearest whole percent as
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directed in the question. You could have also subtracted the 14% of patients treated with
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antidepressants from 100% and obtained the 86% who were not treated with an antidepressant.
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9. What was the purpose of the 6-minute walk test (6MWT)? Would the 6MWT be useful in clinical
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practice?
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Answer: Ha et al. (2018) stated, “The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is a measure of the submaximal,steady-
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state functional capacity” of cardiac patients. This test would be a quick, easy way to determine a
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cardiac patient’s functional status in a clinical setting. This functional status score could be used to
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determine the treatment plan to promote or maintain functional statusofcardiacpatients.
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, Answer Guidelines for Questions to Be Graded
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10. How was exercise confidence measured in thisstudy? Whatwas thelevel ofmeasurementfor the
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exercise confidence variable in this study? Provide a rationale for your answer. Answer: Exercise
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confidence ofthe patients withheart failure (HF) in thisstudy wasmeasuredwiththe Exercise
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ConfidenceScalethatincludedfoursubscalesfocusedonwalking,climbing,lifting objects of graded
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weight, and running (see the study narrative). This was a rating scalewithvaluesrangingfrom0to
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100.Thepatients’scoresfortheTotalExerciseConfidencescaleand the subscales were considered
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interval-level data and analyzed with parametric statistics,suchas meansandSDs(seethestudy
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narrative;Waltzetal., 2017).
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