Wound Healing
Quantitative Research Critique
Vogt, Uhiyarik, & Schroeder (2007) conducted a study that compared Aquacel dressing vs. standard wound care for primary closed vascular surgical wounds. The results of the study found that there was no difference in length of stay in the hospital, complications, patient comfort, or healing time between the two wound care methods. The only difference was that the Aquacel dressing required fewer changes than conventional dressings, but that it increased the cost of care significantly. The following will analyze the methodology of the study and its conclusions in terms of clinical validity.
The design of the study was a randomized-controlled trial comparing standard dressing to Aquacel dressing for vascular surgical wounds. The study design directly reflected the intended purpose of the research, the research questions, the theoretical frame with work, previous literature, and the proposed hypothesis. All patients that participated in the study underwent elective vascular surgery.
Patients were randomized to either of the study groups. They would either be placed in the Aquacel group for wound care after surgery, or they would be placed in the standard wound care group after surgery. Randomization was allocated by a nurse by drawing a number corresponding to the group the patient would be assigned. Neither the researcher, the patient, nor the nurse knew to which group the patients would be assigned. The study involved 160 patients, with 80 in each of the control groups. The envelopes were not opened until the patients were in the surgical theater at the time of dressing application. This research design was appropriate as it represented a double blind assignment into groups. This eliminated the potential for researcher bias.
The randomization procedure used in this study was appropriate for the study, which compared to different groups of patients. Groups were of equal size which allowed direct comparison of the two methods being studied. The randomization procedure used for group assignment eliminated a potential...
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