Question

People aged 70 years and over were identified through a random sample from the NSW electoral roll. They were invited to participate in falls prevention study. Those who agreed to participate had their health and other baseline demographics measured by researchers. Anyone with a history of falling or those unable to walk unassisted were excluded at that stage. The researcher randomised the participants into groups. Group A was receiving exercise sessions in small groups twice a week for 60 minutes in the nearby community centre. The comparison group was asked not to change their daily day activity. Participants in both groups were asked to record on a monthly calendar any exercise including walking they did. Researchers collected these diaries every month from each participant as well as asking if they had a fall during the month and describe what happened. Falls rates were compared between the groups.

-What is the research question or hypothesis that the study attempt to answer?

-What study type/design the paragraph described and why do you think this is the type?

-Describe a different study design than the one described above for the same research question, describe in short what you do?

Answer 1

In the first part, research question or hypothesis that the study attempt to answer is::

(i) factors that increase the risk of falling.

(ii) The most clinically and cost effective interventions for the prevention of further falls.

In the second part,study type/design of the paragraph is multivariate statistical analysis .

Multivariate analysis allows for the efficient estimate of measures of association, while controlling for a number of confounding factors simultaneously.

For part three, different study design for the same research question is::

Focus groups were conducted in 2002 as part of a sustainability analysis of the previous SOYF program . Participants were 70 years or older (old enough to have been within the targeted age range during the SOYF intervention) and had lived in Northern Rivers during the time of the program. Eight groups were conducted with 5 to 12 participants in each group. Of the 73 participants, 54 (74.0%) were women. Focus groups were conducted across the 4 Northern Rivers Area Health Service clusters. Participants were recruited from local seniors’, sporting, and social groups, as well as retirement and day-care centers.