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Wherever results are reported in a journal or scientific conference
there are some general rules that should be followed to ensure
clear and valid exposition of the results.
The results
section of an article or presentation should follow the design
of the study and its methods. First, it should contain all the
results relevant to interpret the validity of the data. This is
particularly important in studies of symptoms in advanced disease,
and should acknowledge any potential sources of bias. Two components
are critical: (1) the proportion of evaluated patients (the compliance
rate), and (2) the proportion of patients who correctly followed
the evaluation procedures (the adherence rate).
Problem
14.1
Suppose
that you wish to examine the prevalence of severe breathlessness
at admission in a consecutive series of 200 new cancer patients
entering a palliative care program. Unfortunately, at the end
of the study you have be able to evaluate only 120 patients out
of the 200 planned. Twenty refused, 20 attended when you were
off work with a bad cold, 30 were deemed by the palliative care
nurse as being too ill for interview, and 10 died before you could
interview them.
The prevalence
of severe breathlessness among the 120 patients was 50%.
Question
14.1
| Should
you describe in detail the reasons for not evaluating severe
breathlessness in all the patients you had planned? |
 Yes |
 No |
Question
14.2
| Do you
think that the prevalence of severe breathlessness is likely
to be the same in the group of patients who died as in the
rest of the sample? |
| Yes |
| No |
Question
14.3
| Do you think that
the prevalence of severe breathlessness is likely to be the
same in the group of patients who were too ill to be interviewed
as in the rest of the sample? |
| Yes |
| No |
Question
14.4
| Do you
think that the prevalence of severe breathlessness is likely
to be the same in the group of patients who refused to be
interviewed as in the rest of the sample? |
| Yes |
| No |
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