Statistical Tools and Descriptive Data
During the 3rd phase of the research, the researcher supposed that there is no need to implement any statistical software into the research process. On the contrary, it is needed to review the literature that is in line with the research question and objectives and compose an all-inclusive survey intended to help the researcher to obtain the required information. It was stated that the use of statistical software is not obligatory. The researcher is primarily interested in the qualitative data obtained throughout the literature review and the following meta-analysis. The results of the survey will be aligned with the data from the literature.
The investigation included a variety of articles dwelling on the treatment of Alzheimer’s in geriatric patients. These articles were subsequently divided into groups. The first group of the articles provided the information concerning the ways to mitigate the anxiety in the patients. The second group focused on the treatment options and medications. The third group discussed the effects of supportive care and its implications for the nursing practice and patient outcomes (Saragat et al., 2012).
Consequently, the results of the survey were also aligned with these three groups. The qualitative data obtained by the researcher showed that geriatric patients positively react to calm and collected discussions concerning their illness. Nonetheless, the majority of the health care professionals point out that this approach may not be suitable for the patients with a short temper. Therefore, nurses have to be careful when approaching a patient. The most prevalent treatment options mentioned by the healthcare specialists were Memantine and various cholinesterase inhibitors (Exelon, Aricept) (Stern, 2012).
These medications are intended to mitigate the cognitive symptoms of the illness and help the patients to get out of possible depression and loss of appetite. Exelon was found to cause disturbed sleeping patterns in the patients. The nurses also indicated that the majority of the conventional anti-anxiety drugs negatively affect the patients and increase the risk of falls (Clegg, Young, Iliffe, Rikkert, & Rockwood, 2013).
The positive effects of the supportive care were also explained by the nurses. They mentioned that it is critical to adapt the patients to real-life situations and minimize the occurrence of situations in which the patients have to perform tasks that are either memory-demanding or complex. Instead, the nurse should simplify the patient’s major routine activities and concentrate on increasing the ergonomics of the patient’s living space (Pedroso et al., 2012).
The supportive care methodology can also be reflected by involving the patients into physical activity. A set of exercises would help the patient improve their mood and restore their sleeping pattern if there were any issues. In conclusion, the majority of the nurses indicated that untraditional medicine was ineffective (Lopez et al., 2013). There is no direct evidence supporting this supposition, so it is reasonable to state that further research requires investigating the phenomenon of alternative medicine and its effectiveness when dealing with Alzheimer’s in geriatric patients.
Research Limitations of the Review
The first and the foremost limitation of the current research is the partiality of the surveyed healthcare professionals. This research bias may transpire due to the medics’ individual preferences or personal opinions concerning the treatment options and overall process. Consequently, it is important to weed out the most relevant and passable information so as to be able to make objective conclusions concerning the treatment of Alzheimer’s in geriatric patients (Nelson et al., 2012).
The nurses may also prefer one treatment option to another, and it may impact both their treatment process and research outcomes. Therefore, the researcher should be careful so as not to omit critically important data while processing the results of the survey.
The author of the research also believes that the information found in the literature may also become a serious limitation of the current study. Procedural mistakes and other rational reasons may result in incorrect perceptions. Ultimately, this may lead to a situation in which the researcher will incorrectly align the findings of the study with the existing literature. For example, a small research sample may be allegedly considered unreliable due to the fact that Alzheimer’s disease should not be treated on the basis of inaccurate and generalized data (Saragat et al., 2012). The limitation regarding the literature review can also be explained by a limited amount of time allocated for the literature review.
The issues of a small research sample and a limited amount of time may lead to a situation where an in-depth review of the literature becomes impossible. The researcher should also be careful when applying certain methodologies because the problems that may transpire throughout the project deployment usually cannot be identified at the same time as they appear. Thus, the researcher risks to process imperfect data and make conclusions on the basis of inappropriate outcomes.
One of the most serious limitations of the current project is high error probability when it comes to the data collection methods. The ultimate analysis of the data showed that the issues regarding the treatment of Alzheimer’s in geriatric patients should be discussed more thoroughly. In perspective, this may trigger further research on the subject and more research questions that are ought to be answered. Therefore, the researcher suggests that more research questions should be developed throughout the research process so as to guide the researcher and simplify the investigation procedure.
The last research limitation is the inability to analyze articles in other languages. The researcher was only able to process the data written in English. On a bigger scale, some of the critical findings presented in other languages may have been left out. This type of research limitation is rather prevalent, but the researcher was initially aware of the fact that there will be no possibility to search for the data in other languages.
Conclusion
The current phase of the research project successfully dwelled on the development of the project and the end results of the survey. The author justified the absence of statistical tools and discussed the ultimate outcomes of the survey and meta-analysis of the investigated literature. The peculiarities of Alzheimer’s disease were outlined throughout the project, and the descriptive data was provided so as to explain the results of the survey.
The three groups of results were carefully conferred, and the researcher was able to align the existing evidence found in the relevant literature with the findings of the current study. The author of the research also pays special attention to the limitations of the study and proposes several ideas for the further research. The investigator expects to eliminate or minimize the bias throughout the future research on the treatment of Alzheimer’s in geriatric patients and other related topics.
References
Clegg, A., Young, J., Iliffe, S., Rikkert, M. O., & Rockwood, K. (2013). Frailty in elderly people. The Lancet, 381(9868), 752-762.
Lopez, O. L., Becker, J. T., Chang, Y., Sweet, R. A., Aizenstein, H., Snitz, B.,… Klunk, W. E. (2013). The long-term effects of conventional and atypical antipsychotics in patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(9), 1051-1058.
Nelson, P., Alafuzoff, I., Bigio, E., Bouras, C., Braak, H., Cairns, N.,… Del Tredici, K. (2012). Correlation of Alzheimer disease neuropathologic changes with cognitive status: A review of the literature. Journal of Neuropathology, 71(5), 362-381.
Pedroso, R. V., Coelho, F. G., Santos-Galduróz, R. F., Costa, J. L., Gobbi, S., & Stella, F. (2012). Balance, executive functions and falls in elderly with Alzheimer’s disease (AD): A longitudinal study. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 54(2), 348-351.
Saragat, B., Buffa, R., Mereu, E., Succa, V., Cabras, S., Mereu, R.,… Marini, E. (2012). Nutritional and psycho-functional status in elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 16(3), 231-236.
Stern, Y. (2012). Cognitive reserve and Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, 20(2), 1006-1012.