NUR 545 PNUR 545 Population Health: Analysis and Evaluation week 4 Assignment

At the end of the week, the student will be able to:

• Further identify components of studies.
• List potential impact of errors in measurement.

• This week we will continue evaluating articles. I would like you to practice the thought process and steps associated with addressing a health concern in a community.

  Using the format in Chapter 4, Exercise 4.3,

  • identify a topic of concern (must be different from previously used topics) 
  • answer the questions as provided.
  • Select one article to support your intervention.
  • Include link to your article.
  • Articles should be 5 years old or less.
  • Use APA format.

Resources

 The chosen research article is entitled, Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of Influenza B Virus-Related Hospitalizations in Northern China during the 2017-18 Influenza Season: A Multicenter Case Series.  Although influenza vaccines have been created, there are still a concerning elevated number of mortality rates among people who contract the virus.  In the United States, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated “influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths during the 2018–2019 influenza season” (CDC, 2020, para. 7).  There are different strands of the influenza virus, which make it difficult to pinpoint which will be at its highest peak during certain years. 

          The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention could be identified as a database at the local, state, or national level to obtain the necessary information when establishing the severity of a problem.  Viewing information from other CDC’s and correlating that information to trends, effect of population density, modes of transmission, and other factors may also be beneficial when establishing the severity of the influenza virus. 

          Local laboratories, medical facilities, both public and private, and other healthcare facilities with the ability to test for influenza keep databases of how many patients are positive with influenza.  The results get reported to the CDC and statistics distribute, collectively.  The information gathered in the facilities locally can assist in determining the incidence and prevalence of influenza.  Surveillance of influenza within communities helps with detection, spread, and prevalence. Surveillance can be defined as “indicating the initiation of an epidemic in the community, that is, a prolonged period of elevated incidence rates (exceeding a given limit) of influenza cases, as defined by the rate of individuals clinically diagnosed with influenza in a population” (Spreco et al., 2017, para. 16). 

          Potential errors can occur in the reporting of influenza to local, state or national databases.  Influenza incidence can be complicated to confirm because many individuals may self quarantine/self treat and not seek treatment from a healthcare professional.  Often times, through experience, patients come into the healthcare office with ‘classic’ influenza signs and symptoms, yet test negative for influenza.  The influenza tests are not 100% accurate all the time, even when controls are functioning.  Medical providers may treat symptoms only, offer medication to slow down the virus, or educate patients on over the counter medications to assist in healing. 

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          Due to these potential errors, interpretation of data may be skewed.  There may actually be more positive cases and an elevated incidence rate than reported.  Human error could create mistakes the data input.  Inaccurate data entry will lead to misinterpretation and erroneous information.  In a pandemic, inaccurate results and false data could lead to a depletion of supplies at an earlier stage than anticipated.

          Reporting in the community can be burdensome, due to barriers.  As in present day, part of the community may adhere to suggestions, while a great portion continues to refuse to participate in the effort to reduce and eliminate viruses, infections, and other conditions.  Urging and educating people of the severity of the spread of these diseases would be helpful.  Many communities have people who don’t speak the native language, which could cause a barrier.  Translators or translation of material would be beneficial to these groups.  Vaccinations that help prevent influenza are sometimes refused because of religion, philosophical/personal beliefs, safety issues, or lack of information.  Again, educating patients is crucial as an “increased uptake in tetravalent influenza vaccine should be very helpful in preventing future cases of influenza B virus (IBV) hospitalizations” (Liu et al., 2019, p. 7).

           Addressing the increasing rate of influenza in the population I serve would not be an easy task if resources were available.  For example, literature on influenza and vaccines translated into many languages for distribution would help for those interested in vaccination but do not have the time right away.  Public service announcements through the local news channels can help reach and deliver vital information.  Encouragement of hand washing, covering mouths when coughing or sneezing, proper amounts of rest, and staying home when ill may serve purposeful in an event of increasing influenza rates.

          In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions, case-control studies would be used.  Although vaccinations should be administered in advance, case-control could be performed on those who test positive when seeking medical attention, or cases, and those who test negative, or controls.  Both cases and controls can be “matched individually or as a group for variables that might cause confounding” (Cupp Curley, 2020, p. 101), for example, gender, age, or smoker versus non-smoker, vaccinated or non-vaccinated.  Case-control studies are typically inexpensive, help calculate odds ratio, quick to complete, and help study variables with impact periods.  The studies will help in determining effectiveness of vaccinations and assist in encouraging individuals to become vaccinated.                                

CDC. (2020, January 8). Estimated influenza illnesses, medical visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States - 2018–2019 influenza season. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html (Links to an external site.)

Cupp Curley, A. L. (2020). Population-based nursing concepts and competencies for advanced practice (3rd Ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co.

Liu, D., Xu, J., Yu, X., Tong, F., Walline, J., Fu, Y., & Zhao, K. (2019). Clinical characteristics and prognosis of influenza b virus-related hospitalizations in Northern China during the 2017-18 influenza season: A multicenter case series. BioMed Research International, 1–8. https://doi-org.baypath.idm.oclc.org/10.1155/2019/8756563 (Links to an external site.)

Spreco, A., Eriksson, O., Dahlström, Ö., Cowling, B. J., & Timpka, T. (2017). Integrated detection and prediction of influenza activity for real-time surveillance: Algorithm design. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(6), e211. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7101