Assignment: Evidence-Based Project, Part 3: Critical Appraisal of Research

Realtors rely on detailed property appraisals—conducted using appraisal tools—to assign market values to houses and other properties. These values are then presented to buyers and sellers to set prices and initiate offers.

Research appraisal is not that different. The critical appraisal process utilizes formal appraisal tools to assess the results of research to determine value to the context at hand. Evidence-based practitioners often present these findings to make the case for specific courses of action.

In this Assignment, you will use an appraisal tool to conduct a critical appraisal of published research. You will then present the results of your efforts.

To Prepare:

· Reflect on the four peer-reviewed articles you selected in Module 2 and the four systematic reviews (or other filtered high- level evidence) you selected in Module 3.

· Reflect on the four peer-reviewed articles you selected in Module 2 and analyzed in Module 3.

· Review and download the Critical Appraisal Tool Worksheet Template provided in the Resources.

The Assignment (Evidence-Based Project)

Part 3A: Critical Appraisal of Research

Conduct a critical appraisal of the four peer-reviewed articles you selected by completing the Evaluation Table within the Critical Appraisal Tool Worksheet Template. Choose a total of four peer- reviewed articles that you selected related to your clinical topic of interest in Module 2 and Module 3.

Note: You can choose any combination of articles from Modules 2 and 3 for your Critical Appraisal. For example, you may choose two unfiltered research articles from Module 2 and two filtered research articles (systematic reviews) from Module 3 or one article from Module 2 and three articles from Module 3. You can choose any combination of articles from the prior Module Assignments as long as both modules and types of studies are represented.

Part 3B: Critical Appraisal of Research

Based on your appraisal, in a 1-2-page critical appraisal, suggest a best practice that emerges from the research you reviewed. Briefly explain the best practice, justifying your proposal with APA citations of the research.

RUBRIC

The critical appraisal accurately and clearly provides a detailed evaluation table. The responses provide a detailed, specific, and accurate evaluation of each of the peer-reviewed articles selected.

The responses accurately and clearly suggest a detailed best practice that is fully aligned to the research reviewed.

The responses accurately and clearly explain in detail the best practice, with sufficient justification of why this represents a best practice in the field. The responses provide a complete, detailed, and specific synthesis of two outside resources reviewed on the best practice explained. The response fully integrates at least two outside resources and two or three course-specific resources that fully support the responses provided.

Accurate, complete, and full APA citations are provided for the research reviewed.

Paragraphs and sentences follow writing standards for flow, continuity, and clarity.

A clear and comprehensive purpose statement, introduction, and conclusion is provided which delineates all required criteria.

Uses correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation with no errors.

Uses correct APA format with no errors.

Evaluation Table

Use this document to complete the
evaluation table
requirement of the Module 4 Assessment, Evidence-Based Project, Part 4A: Critical Appraisal of Research

*

These levels are from the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice: Evidence Level and Quality Guide

· Level I

Experimental, randomized controlled trial (RCT), systematic review RTCs with or without meta-analysis

· Level II

Quasi-experimental studies, systematic review of a combination of RCTs and quasi-experimental studies, or quasi-experimental studies only, with or without meta-analysis

· Level III

Nonexperimental, systematic review of RCTs, quasi-experimental with/without meta-analysis, qualitative, qualitative systematic review with/without meta-synthesis

· Level IV

Respected authorities’ opinions, nationally recognized expert committee/consensus panel reports based on scientific evidence

· Level V

Literature reviews, quality improvement, program evaluation, financial evaluation, case reports, nationally recognized expert(s) opinion based on experiential evidence

**Note on Conceptual Framework

· The following information is from Walden academic guides which helps explain conceptual frameworks and the reasons they are used in research. Here is the link

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/conceptualframework

· Researchers create theoretical and conceptual frameworks that include a philosophical and methodological model to help design their work. A formal theory provides context for the outcome of the events conducted in the research. The data collection and analysis are also based on the theoretical and conceptual framework.

· As stated by Grant and Osanloo (2014), “Without a theoretical framework, the structure and vision for a study is unclear, much like a house that cannot be constructed without a blueprint. By contrast, a research plan that contains a theoretical framework allows the dissertation study to be strong and structured with an organized flow from one chapter to the next.”

· Theoretical and conceptual frameworks provide evidence of academic standards and procedure. They also offer an explanation of why the study is pertinent and how the researcher expects to fill the gap in the literature.

· Literature does not always clearly delineate between a theoretical or conceptual framework. With that being said, there are slight differences between the two.

References

The Johns Hopkins Hospital/Johns Hopkins University (n.d.). Johns Hopkins nursing dvidence-based practice: appendix C: evidence level and quality guide. Retrieved October 23, 2019 from

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/evidence-based-practice/_docs/appendix_c_evidence_level_quality_guide

Grant, C., & Osanloo, A. (2014). Understanding, Selecting, and Integrating a Theoretical Framework in Dissertation Research: Creating the Blueprint for Your” House”. Administrative Issues Journal: Education, Practice, and Research, 4(2), 12-26.

Walden University Academic Guides (n.d.). Conceptual & theoretical frameworks overview. Retrieved October 23, 2019 from
https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/conceptualframework

Critical Appraisal Tool Worksheet Template

© 2018 Laureate Education Inc.
2

Depressive disorders

Name

Institution

Date

Introduction
It is normal to feel sad from time to time. However, when this goes on for a long-time health issues may arise which include major depressive disorders.
There is an increasing concern on major depressive disorders in middle aged men.
Major depressive disorders in middle aged men may go on for a long time within the individual before the health issue is diagnosed.
Traditionally, clinical treatment of depressive disorders has been done using antidepressants. Exercise is also a recommended method of treating major depressive disorders in middle-aged men.

Developing PICO(T) question
PICO question: How does the use of antidepressants (I) compared to intense exercise (C) in the successful treatment (O) of major depressive disorder in middle-aged men (P)?
In developing the PICO(T) question, certain important elements were first described the used. These elements include:
P- Population/patients
I- Intervention
C- Comparison/control
O- Outcome
T- Time (optional)
Once the elements were identified and described, they were framed in a manner that could facilitate faster data base search.

Research database used
PubMed
Scopus
JSTOR
Medline

APA citation of peer reviewed articles
Blumenthal, J. A., Babyak, M. A., Doraiswamy, P. M., Watkins, L., Hoffman, B. M., Barbour, K. A., Herman, S., Craighead, W. E., Brosse, A. L., Waugh, R., Hinderliter, A., & Sherwood, A. (2007). Exercise and pharmacotherapy in the treatment of major depressive disorder. Psychosomatic medicine, 69(7), 587–596. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e318148c19a
Schuch, F. B., & Stubbs, B. (2019). The role of exercise in preventing and treating depression. Current sports medicine reports, 18(8), 299-304.
Netz, Y. (2017). Is the comparison between exercise and pharmacologic treatment of depression in the clinical practice guideline of the american college of physicians evidence-based?. Frontiers in pharmacology, 8, 257.
Kandola, A., Ashdown-Franks, G., Hendrikse, J., Sabiston, C. M., & Stubbs, B. (2019). Physical activity and depression: Towards understanding the antidepressant mechanisms of physical activity. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 107, 525-539.

Levels of evidence
1) Article 1- level I; Article 2- level II; Article 3- level I; Article 4- level II
The benefits of using systematic reviews in this context include:
They expose existing knowledge gaps that require future studies.
Reduces biases as conclusion is derived after review of numerous articles.
Provide basis of application of clinical practice from available evidence based practices

Definitions of levels
Peer reviewed articles herein have different levels of evidence that support their use in this study.
The first and third articles are graded Level I signaling a thorough meta-analysis and evince based clinical practices.
The second and fourth article are Level II articles because evidence is based on a well-designed RCT.
All other Levels of evidence were not used in the study as they do not satisfy the study requirement.

Conclusion
Depressive disorders especially in middle aged men should be adressed more since they normaly go undiscovered.
The PICO(T) question addressed herein compares physical exercise to anti depressants in treating depressive disorders in treating depressive disorders in middle-aged men.
Many research articles and journals have been published investigating this issue.
There are numerous databases that avail these publications therefore facilitating further details on our PICO(T) question.

References
Currier, D., Lindner, R., Spittal, M. J., Cvetkovski, S., Pirkis, J., & English, D. R. (2020). Physical activity and depression in men: Increased activity duration and intensity associated with lower likelihood of current depression. Journal of affective disorders, 260, 426-431.
Hallgren, M., Vancampfort, D., Giesen, E. S., Lundin, A., & Stubbs, B. (2017). Exercise as treatment for alcohol use disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(14), 1058-1064.
Kennedy, S. H., & Emsley, R. (2006). Placebo-controlled trial of agomelatine in the treatment of major depressive disorder. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 16(2), 93-100.
Kupfer, D. J., Frank, E., & Phillips, M. L. (2012). Major depressive disorder: new clinical, neurobiological, and treatment perspectives. The Lancet, 379(9820), 1045-1055.
Teychenne, M., Ball, K., & Salmon, J. (2008). Physical activity and likelihood of depression in adults: a review. Preventive medicine, 46(5), 397-411.
Walther, A., Breidenstein, J., & Miller, R. (2019). Association of testosterone treatment with alleviation of depressive symptoms in men: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA psychiatry, 76(1), 31-40.