Epidemiology For Health Conditions

Evidence Presentation

Discuss about the Epidemiology for Health Conditions.

The aim of this paper is to apply epidemiological approaches to evaluate evidence in heath science. Epidemiology is a study on patterns, effects and cause health conditions of a specified population(Birmann et al., 2016).  Specifically, this paper will draw a reflection on the accumulated knowledge of epidemiology and skills, then utilize them to appraise the association between exposure and the results in relation to peer-reviewed epidemiological survey covered by Golley et al. Therefore, the paper will start by giving evidence presentation as per the article and proceed to elaborate the evident association between the outcomes and the specified exposure. Causal association and accordance between the two are also going to be discussed in the paper. Finally, the paper will discuss the external validity of the results. Here, the reality regarding the survey will be determined, and also relating the study with scientific concepts and other research that had been done earlier in the same field of sturdy. Thus, a complete appraisal between the peer-reviewed article’s exposure and outcome will be discussed in this paper.    

According to Golley et al., (2007), when a parent is trained in line with certain skills, he or she can easily address an overweight issue in a child. The evidence based on this reticle proves that parenting skills are the main strategy for treating overweight in children. To support the findings, the relative effectiveness of parenting skills was evaluated through an appropriate design. Therefore, the exposure or intervention according to this article was the design which comprised of randomized, control trial entailing 111 people among which 64% were overweight women (Golley et al., 2007). The exposure also contained prepubertal kids aged between 6 and 9 years. Through the design, the research found out that the body mass index was reduced by 10%after 12 months (Golley et al., 2007).

The study design entailed the use of a randomized, single-blinded and control trial to determine the effectiveness of two child weight control intervention referred to as parenting skills training with intent little education (Golley et al., 2007). Generally, the study was done in two metropolitan hospitals in Adelaide located in the southern part of Australia. The population for the study comprised of families, recruited in July 2012 and August 2003. Within the population, children aged between 6 and 9 years were included. Through this design, the research realized a significant reduction of body mass index Z-score over 12 between (Golley et al., 2007). It was also found out that height Z-score for all participants studied increased from 1.2 ± 0.9 to 1.3 ± 0.9 at baseline and 12 months respectively (Golley et al., 2007).  

Association Between the Exposure and the Outcome

The observed association between the exposure and outcome is strong and hence, the existence of the causal relationship. The design of the study consisted of two experimentations including randomized and control trial, where female and male were used as the population. After 12 months of study, the results were obtained, in which when only one subject is applied (parenting-skills training alone) the result were 5% lower than when both the latter and intensive lifestyle training were used (Golley et al., 2007). However, there was consistency in the outcome. 

In this particular study, the results are likely to be affected by selection or measurement bias because the two may cause non-inclusion of some members of the population (Kloog et al., 2015). Such scenario may result in a biased sample (Fang, Brooks &Chrischilles, 2012). For instance, the study here involved two major methodologies in which one both the parenting-skills training and intensive lifestyle training were used, while the other one the former was exempted (Golley et al., 2007). In the two distinct approaches, the results were not the same. Therefore, the results are likely to be affected by selection or measurement bias (Ward-Caviness et al., 2016). The result is also likely to be confounding because the primary interest is combined with external factors. When the two variable are combined in a study, the results are affected, thereby causing an inaccuracy (Hallager et al., 2016). The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of the effect or contribution of parenting skills on managing the weight of children at various age groups. However, besides the control experiment, there was the promotion of healthy family lifestyle (Golley et al., 2007). Here, the former was a confiding factor because it relates directly with the result. Evidently, promotion of family lifestyle may have a lot of effects on the weight of the population (Golley et al., 2007). Generally, a confounding factor or variables always affect the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. When the relationship between the two variables is affected, the researcher is likely to interpret the results wrongly. Tentatively, such situations result in no meaningful conclusion. Therefore, the result is likely to be affected by confounding likewise with chance variation.

In a layman’s language, chance variation is an external factor hat proceeds to affect the variables of a research despite the effort of trying to control all the external factors. In the research where only the effectiveness of parenting skills was on controlling the overweight in children, the expected result was expected to be negative (Golley et al., 2007). However, when additional perspective was incorporated into the study, the result came out to be different by 5% (Golley et al., 2007). Therefore, chance variation is likely to affect the result because any aspect of it causes the outcome. However, the total amount of chance may cause a simultaneous act due to substantiality. Apparently, eliminating chance variation in an experiment is quite difficult(Gramberg&Penne, 2015). To sum up, the association between the exposure and the result is strong because the result was obtained. However, both the measurement biases, confounding, and chance variation are likely to affect the results.

Causal Association Between the Exposure and the Outcome

There is proof of a causal association between the exposure and the outcome. The causal relationship is caused by a relationship between the exposure and the results (Hongkai et al., 2016). In the study, a control experiment was used. As noted earlier, the exposure composed of randomized, an assessor-blinded and a controlled trial that involved 111overweight individuals (Golley et al., 2007). After the twelve months, the results obtained were not the same in the two procedures where one incorporated both the parenting-skills training and promotion of healthy lifestyle, and one in which the latter was exempted (Golley et al., 2007). This is affirmed through the 5% difference between the two approaches. Specifically, there was a height increase of 6.5± 1.3 cm after 12 months from the baseline, the Z-score of the heights of all participants adjusting from 1.2 ± 0.9 to 1.3 ± 1.2 in baseline and 12 months respectively, indicate that the exposure relates to outcome (Golley et al., 2007). Besides, groups had an important reduction of body mass index Z-score over 12, confirming further the consistency of the results (Linares &Díaz, 2015). This confirmation indicates a strong relationship between the exposure and the outcome (Miller, 2013).

 If the study was not conducted in more or less time duration rather than 12 months, the results are most likely to be different. At the same time, if the research could have been conducted in a different population with distinct traits, the outcome could not have been the same. Therefore, the relationship between the exposure and the outcome is both temporal and strong(Kirk &Hyra, 2012). Cause-relationship may also be evident from the effect of various levels of exposure (Goykhman et al., 2014). For example, in a period of twelve months, a 10% reduction in body mass index observation was observed in parenting-skills training combined with intense lifestyle education.At the same time, a 5% was determined when only the parenting-skills training was used (Golley et al., 2007). Similarly, there was a change difference in mothers and fathers. For example, for the purpose of categorical analysis, the population was subdivided into overweight, non-overweight and base using the internal obesity task definition. To this respect, the parental weight and heights were measured through two distinct measurement methods; self and assessor measurements. This measurement mode had 5% to 13% of women and 71% to 78% of the father at the base and line respectively (Golley et al., 2007). The difference in classification further indicates the existence of a dose-response relationship between the exposure and the result.

Calculation of the results was based on the falling of body mass index. In the normal growth, there was a weight gain of 50%. Tentatively, a sample of 28 people was approximated to have 80% detection power at in 12 months (Golley et al., 2007). The mean of body mass weight Z-score from the baseline resulted into 0.26 ± 0.49 and 0.5 when the change in the control group is assumed to be zero (Golley et al., 2007). There was consistency in the results because all the groups involved in the study had a reduction of body mass index. To sum up, the research study had a temporal relationship between exposure and outcome. At the same time, there was strong and dose-response relationship between exposure and the results.

The findings of the study were based on the examination of the effectiveness of parenting skills training only or with intensive lifestyle education. Like any other scientific study, a control experiment was incorporated in which weight listed group was used. The main findings were consistent in that; all the groups had an important reduction of body mass index Z-score over 12 months.   This finding was in double with the number of kids in the P+ DA classification 45% in relation to P intervention weight-listed 24% and 19% in that order (Golley et al., 2007). Evidently, the consistency in results indicates a likelihood of similarity between this study and similar or more powerful study designs.

The results obtained from the study are plausible in terms of a biological mechanism. Biologically, vigorous exercise enables an overweight person to lose extra weight and come back to normality (Tweed, 2016). For instance, in a certain study, overweight girls aged 5 to 11 years of age were taken through weight reduction treatments and treatment at random(Chatterjee, 1999). Through one of the processes, response-cost plus, parents were engaged in the facilitation of the loss in weight by their children through carrying out stimulus techniques and related reinforcements. This went through the vigorous exercising of the children. As a result, the response-cost technique only did not reinforce the performance of the children effectively. Apparently, after eight weeks of exercise and response cost mechanism, the children gained significant weight loss. After 12 months, the groups that applied the exercise experimental had gained more weight loss compared to the control group. Therefore, the results as per this study are plausible in terms of biological mechanisms and also relate with the findings of other studies on the same aspect.

The results as per this study are externally valid as they can be penalized. The external validity of results is determined by the concept of truth that lies in findings or results in respect to a certain piece of study (Rezaei, &Franti, 2016). On a broader view, the external validity is the truth approximation of conclusions of a certain study(Nielsen &Knardahl, 2016). Basically, the findings as per the study are consistent and apply similarly to other findings from the same field of study as affirmed in the second last section of the paper above (Golley et al., 2007). Body mass index is a ratio obtained from a lively experience.

Like any other experience that involves of human beings, there are confounding factors but are greatly reduced. Basically, the population selected was used as a case study to present the entire human population that is challenged with abnormal weight. When any relevant population is selected and the same exposure, study design and a similar control experiment used, the results are likely to be the same hence, generalizable(Phillips et al., 2013). To illustrate father, this particular study entailed variables that are likely to be constant in any geographical location(Myers, 2014). For example, when a certain number of children are selected in the United States based on weight average, and the same sampling technique used in the Middle East the subject is likely to be the same. Being that the findings as per the study are scientifically true, the results obtained in the former regarding test over weight reduction is likely to be the same in the two distinct located groups(Konradsen, Kirkevold& Olson, 2013). Therefore, the findings of the study are externally valid hence, generalizable.

This paper has applied epidemiological approaches to evaluate evidence in heath science. Epidemiology is a study on patterns, effects and causes of health conditions of a specified population.  To this respect, a peer-reviewed epidemiological survey covered by Golley et al.was analyzed in details. By giving evidence presentation in relation to the article, the relationship existence and utilization of exposure through appropriate study design was evident. In respect to the Golley et al.’s peer-review article, parenting skills are the main strategy for treating overweight in children. This conclusion is arrived after evaluating the relative effectiveness of parenting skills through an appropriate design comprising of randomized, control trial entailing 111 people among which 64% were overweight women.

The paper proceeded to analyze the association between the exposure and the findings, where a strong association between the two is evident. The association analysis of the sturdy drew many picture. As noted in the upper part of the paper, the results are consistent, butcan be affected by selection or measurement bias through cause non-inclusion of some members. Tentatively, the outcome is also likely to be confounding due to combination of the primary interest with external factors. The evident causal association between the exposure and the outcome in the article was observed through the relationship existing between the exposure and the results. It was also observed that the association shows a strong relationship between the exposure and the outcome.

The Accordance between the findings and other evidences is also analyzed in this paper. As noted in the second last section of the paper, the results as per the peer-reviewed are plausible in comparison to biological mechanism. Scientifically, vigorous exercise enables an overweight person to lose extra weight. This confounding nature of the article’s findings and scientific experiments strengthens the validity of outcome of the study.  Finally, this paper has evaluated the external validity of the results. In this section, concepts of truth that lies between the findings was weighed using a different piece of study. After the comparison, the external validity of the findings was found to be reliable. The findings were consistent and apply similarly to other findings from the same field of study.

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