INSTRUCTIONS
Discussion Peer/Participation Prompt
Respond to at least two other student’s postings with substantive comments.
Substantive comments add to the discussion and provide your fellow students with information that will enhance the learning environment.
References and citations should conform to the APA standards.
Remember: Please respect the opinions of others, even if their views differ. In other words, disagree professionally and respectfully.
Plagiarism is never acceptable – give credit when credit is due – cite your sources.
Responses need to address all components of the question, demonstrate critical thinking and analysis and include peer-reviewed journal evidence to support the student’s position.
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The article used focuses on complementary and alternative medicine use in pediatric oncology patients in different stages of treatment. The study looks at complementary and alternative medicine versus separate entities.
Identify elements or processes of the study.
The study used a retrospective quantitative cross-sectional method that included pediatric oncology patients from Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland (Luthi et al., 2021). The sample for the study included pediatric patients from 0 to 18 years old that were diagnosed with cancer from 2007 to 2017 (Luthi et al., 2021). The parents of the eligible oncology patients were sent an access code to the online questionnaire along with an informed consent that must be signed and sent back to the researchers (Luthi et al., 2021). The questionnaire asked the parents or the patients who were above 18 years old of their experiences and opinions regarding complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use (Luthi et al., 2021). The questionnaire was available for patients and parents to use from June to October 2018 (Luthi et al., 2021). There were 23 questions that divided into four sections, which included “(1) the child’s lifetime CAM use and use since diagnosis, (2) modalities of CAM used within specific time intervals, (3) sources of information used by the parents about CAM, and (4) communication about CAM between the patient’s parents and the pediatric oncologist” (Luthi et al., 2021). One Luthi et al. (2021) received informed consents from the parents and patients, the patient’s personal data was entered into their analysis. Examples of personal data that was entered included patient’s age, age at diagnosis, date of diagnosis, and type of cancer (Luthi et al., 2021).
Determine the study strengths and weaknesses.
Each study has strengths and weaknesses. For this study in particular, one strength that I found is that there wasn’t a limitation of methods for when investigating CAM use. Instead of separating each method such as acupuncture, aromatherapy, or massage, it was grouped together. Another strength that I found in the study was that when Luthi et al. (2021) had organized questionnaires, the surveys were not just limited to parents only. Those that were older than 18 years of age when the questionnaires were sent out were able to participate as well (Luthi et al., 2021). This is helpful because it lets the patient themselves answer the questions regarding their own experience and not just the experiences of the parents.
A weakness in the study was that there was only about 33% of the eligible participants participated (Luthi et al., 2021). This created a smaller study than Luthi et al. (2021) had anticipated as there were 421 eligible participants and only 140 questionnaires were qualified to be used. The study was also smaller due to the fact that only one medical facility was used versus two or more facilities (Luthi et al., 2021).
Evaluate credibility, trustworthiness, and meaning of the study.
This study was funded by two institutions that were affiliated with the authors (Luthi et al., 2021). There was approval from the ethics committee of Canton de Vaud regarding the protocol and questionnaires that were used (Luthi et al., 2021).
Reference:
Luthi, E., Diezi, M., Danon, N., Dubois, J., Pasquier, J., Burnand, B., & Rodondi, P. (2021). Complementary and alternative medicine use by pediatric oncology patients before, during, and after treatment. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 21, 1-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12906-021-03271-9
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