By Day 5
Post a cohesive scholarly response that addresses the following:
Briefly summarize the population health problem you selected for Major Assessment 7, and state the study question you want to answer.
Explain which epidemiologic study design is most appropriate for your study, as well as the assumptions and tenets that support its application.
Analyze the strengths and the limitations of the potential data sources you might use for your study.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
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Solution
Week 4 Discussion 2: Epidemiologic Designs
The population health issues identified is obesity. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assert that the prevalence of obesity continues to rise and make it a national public health issue. CDC figures show that more than 40% of Americans, especially from racial and ethnic minority communities are obese or overweight (CDC, 2021). Obesity is a leading cause of several health problems and conditions that include heart disease, stroke, different types of cancers, and diabetes. Over half of obese individuals have excess fat around their abdomen (Rao et al., 2017). For instance, truncal obesity is extremely harmful because of the close proximity of vital organs to the fatty areas in the region. The implication is that obesity, including truncal obesity, is associated with environment aspects like diet and exercise, and genetic issues.
The selected study question for the problem is “What is the efficacy of individual environmental strategies like diets and exercise in reducing and preventing the occurrence of truncal obesity among women and older adults?”
Understanding the risk factors related to increased prevalence of truncal obesity in the population require a detailed analysis. As such the most effective epidemiological design is using cohort study where the affected individuals will be identified based on the exposure levels and followed through the interventions to assess the effectiveness of the applied intervention (Friis & Sellers, 2021). Using this approach, researchers can understand the risk factors that cause a rise in the prevalence of truncal obesity. Cohort study design establishes a cause and effect approach to the clinical issue under investigations. Assumptions that support cohort design include its use of large samples and making follow ups over a certain period by researchers to assess the risks and effects of the interventions after their implementation.
Possible sources of data for this design include observations from the research subjects due to follow ups and utilization of past research findings (Klingelhöfer et al., 2021). These sources have advantages that include interaction with participants and access to huge volumes of research studies’ findings. Conversely, these sources are time consuming and require more resource deployment.
References
Barrett, D., & Noble, H. (2019). What are cohort studies? Evidence-Based Nursing, 22, 95-96.
https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2019-103183
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2021 September 30). Adult Obesity Facts.
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
Friis, R. H., & Sellers, T. A. (2021). Epidemiology for public health practice (6th ed.). Jones &
Bartlett. Chapter 8, “Experimental Study Designs”
Klingelhöfer, D., Braun, M., Quarcoo, D., Brüggmann, D., & Groneberg, D. A. (2021).
Epidemiological Influences and Requirements of Global Childhood Obesity Research. Obesity Facts, 14(4), 382-396. https://doi.org/10.1159/000516777
Rao, H., Wu, E., Fu, S., Yang, M., Feng, B., Lin, A., … & Wei, L. (2017). The higher prevalence
of truncal obesity and diabetes in American than Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C might contribute to more rapid progression to advanced liver disease. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 46(8), 731-740. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14273.