Critical Research Appraisal

Section 1: Topic/ problem and population/area of enquiry (Approx. 120 words) (10 marks)

Diabetes is one of the leading health conditions that is negatively affecting the health of adults in the UK. According to reports, there are nearly 3.5 million adults living with diagnosed diabetes in the UK. Moreover, it is predicted that an additional 549,000 people in the UK are yet to receive diagnosis for diabetes which meanly nearly 4 million people in the UK are currently suffering from the health issue. This represents 6% of the entire population and it indicates that 1 in 16 people living in the UK is suffering from either diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes (Diabetes, 2019). Moreover, 90% of diabetes among individuals in the UK is type-2 diabetes and rest is type-1 diabetes (Diabetes, 2019). Thus, it indicates that type-2 diabetes is affecting wide number of people in the UK. Therefore, the topic of the study is impact of the pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention on management of type-2 diabetes for adults (above 18 years of age) in the UK. The awareness of diabetes is required to be raised in the community frequently even though there is Diabetes Awareness Day across the globe which I 14th November each year (Diabetes, 2019)

Section 2: PICO strategy plus 2 database searches (Approx. 460 words in total)

PICO Strategy (be brief no more than 40 words) (15 marks)

Problem and Population Adults above 18 years of age suffering from type-2 diabetes

Intervention: Non-pharmacological intervention

Comparison (if relevant)

Outcome Improved health condition of type-2 diabetic adults in the UK

Your final search question What is the impact of non-pharmacological intervention on management of type-2 diabetes for adults (above 18 years of age) in the UK?

Key words to be used in searches Type-2 diabetes, Adults, elderly, Pharmacological intervention, non-pharmacological intervention, lifestyle changes in diabetes, medication for type-2 diabetes.

Section 2 cont… Database search 1: (Approx. 210 words) (25 marks)

The use of CINHAL database is important because it provides opportunity to the researchers in quickly accessing data from the web and use it to frame a credible research (Aveyard, 2014). The first database to be used in executing the search is Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL). The benefit of using CINHAL is that contains nearly 2.3 million records of medical articles that are dated back to 1981 allowing the researchers have opportunity to determine history of any aspect regarding any medical topic. Moreover, CINHAL provides nearly 3000 English articles and journals that are published by different field of nursing and allied medical (Aveyard, 2014). Since the current study is located in England where the key language spoken and understood is English, the researchers was able to explore the articles and journals that are present in English in the database while other relevant journal written in other languages are to be ignored which led to some los of relevant information regarding the study. Therefore, using CINHAL would allow the researchers in the study to collect adequate data from the English articles relevant to the study which they can easily locate in the database.

Section 2 cont… Database search 2: (Approx. 210 words) (25 marks)

The second database search is to be done by using MEDLINE which is referred to as the index of biomedical journal literature that is developed by the National Library of Medicine. This is because MEDLINE is one of the greatest sources that contain more than 5000 relevant healthcare journal and 12 million articles that are complete, authoritative and peer-reviewed (nlm.nih.gov, 2021). The presence of authoritative journal and articles in MEDLINE helps to identify exactly the researchers who are involved in executing the study, their qualification, who presented the findings in the study and in which place the research has been executed. Moreover, the presence of peer-reviewed journal in MEDLINE ensures the existing articles are well-designed and the information in them are accurately presented to be used as reference in studies (Kaste, 2015). The other reason of using MEDLINE is that it provides complete sense in referencing the articles because everything required in referring the facts area present thoroughly in the mentioned journal and articles (Kaste, 2015). Moreover, the use of check tags in MEDLINE helps to create refined searches and provides articles that are of specific need regarding the topic to be explored (Kaste, 2015). Thus, MEDLINE is to be used as it ensures easy identification of relevant articles for framing a well-informed study.

Section 3: Evaluation of the primary research methods used (Approx. 120 words) (15marks)

The searches in the two mentioned databases are undertaken by using keywords such as “diabetes” “non-pharmacological intervention”, “care for diabetes in adults” and other. The outcome of the searches undertaken is that nearly 30-40 relevant journals and articles are found for each of the keywords used in the search. However, among them half of them had free access while others required payment. Since there are no finances invested in executing the study, therefore the relevant paid journals and articles are to be ignored which led to loss of valuable data in framing the study to some extent. Moreover, few journals and articles are found to be written in phrases other than English. Since the researchers belong from UK where the key language spoken and understood is English, thus these studies could not be included. However, nearly 1012 relevant and easily accessible articles are found that are effective to be used in framing the current study.

Section 4: Conclusion and recommendations (Approx. 100 words) (10 marks)

The discussion concludes that due to lack of finances few of the potential studies which could have led to enriched presentation of the topic is unable to be used. However, presence of free articles in the specified database was able to resolve the issue to some extent by providing vital information required in presentation of the findings of the study. It is recommended that few finances if possible are to be collected so that the paid journal could be accessed in framing the study in effective manner. Moreover, it is also recommended to visit the college online library to ensure if the paid articles that are relevant to be used are freely present there to be used in framing an enriched study.

Section 5: References

Aveyard, H., 2014. Doing a literature review in health and social care: A practical guide. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

DeJonckheere, M. and Vaughn, L.M., 2019. Semistructured interviewing in primary care research: a balance of relationship and rigour. Family Medicine and Community Health, 7(2).pp.34-67.

Diabetes 2019, Diabetes Prevalence, Available at: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-prevalence.html#:~:text=UK diabetes prevalence text=This means that C including the,diabetes (diagnosed and undiagnosed).[Acceed on: 15 January 2021]

Kaste, A., 2015. Medline Complete. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 103(1), p.62.

nlm.nih.gov 2021, MEDLINE: Overview, Available at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline/medline_overview.html [Accessed on: 13 March 2021]