Qualitative Research Article Critique
Follow-up care after surgery is critical to the patients’ health and well-being. Substandard care can result in patients’ healing process being jeopardized, severely affecting their mental health. Thus, it is essential to access the follow-up care offered after surgical treatments and find ways to improve it. This essay will analyze and critique a qualitative research article discussing patients’ experiences of follow-up care after bariatric surgery.
Elements of Style
The article selected for the analysis has a short abstract that briefly describes its objectives, study design, and sample. It also includes a description of the results and conclusions with recommendations for further research. Overall, the abstract is concise and gives the readers a clear understanding of the paper’s topic and the methods used during the study. In addition, information on the authors’ qualifications is given on the first page.
Statement of Interest
The article’s phenomenon of interest is the recovery of patients after bariatric surgery, the quality of follow-up care, and how it affects their life. The topic is clearly stated in the title of the article and the abstract. The authors also justify the use of a qualitative method in the introduction section. According to Coulman et al. (2020), patients’ experience can inform clinical practice, and the qualitative method is the most efficient in understanding different people’s perspectives. Overall, the phenomenon of interest is clear to the readers, and the implementation of qualitative research is adequately justified.
Purpose of the Study
The study aims to determine how follow-up care after bariatric surgery affects the patients’ quality of life. The research informs the nursing practice as it illustrates the patients’ needs after surgery and highlights what needs are not being met by medical professionals. Incorporating the findings in the current clinical practice will improve the quality of care that nursing practitioners can provide to their patients.
Ethical Considerations
Any medical research must ensure the protection of the rights of its human subjects. In this case, the participants were informed about the objective of the study, and written consent was secured from the patients involved. It is unclear to what extent the participants were informed about the nature of the research. The authors also received approval from an Ethics Committee before the start of the study.
Research Method
The researchers utilized semi-structured interviews to collect data for the article in question. The chosen method is compatible with the primary purpose of the study. That goal is to determine how the follow-up care after bariatric surgery affects patients’ quality of life and what it lacks. The interviews’ semi-structured nature allowed the authors to gather valuable data on the participants’ experiences and adequately address the importance of follow-up care.
Sampling
The sampling for the research was conducted by two bariatric surgery centers, with medical professionals identifying prospective participants among their patients and referring them to the study. The authors aimed for maximum variation in gender, age, BMI, and time since the surgery for initial interviews. Overall, 17 participants were recruited, with most patients being female. The sampling was carried out until no new insight could be gathered from data collection.
Data Collection and Analysis
The researchers followed a strict procedure when collecting data from the participants. The interviewers followed a topic guide to collect data on the quality of follow-up care the patients received and how it affected their life after surgery. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded to ensure the subsequent data analysis accuracy. All the data collected during the interviews focuses solely on the experiences of the participants.
The collected data was given codes, which were later grouped into main themes. The identified themes and their subcategories were later sorted into large matrixes to analyze the links between them further. As the information gathered in the interviews was coded, and evidence relating to each of the main themes was described in detail, it can be assumed that the researchers remained faithful to the raw data.
The Authenticity of the Data
It can be argued that the data collected by the researchers is authentic. The findings are discussed in detail, and there is a logical connection between them and the conclusion. All the collected data relates only to the personal experience of the participants. Although the findings can be used outside of the study, the authors note that the results concerning the quality of follow-up care may not apply to medical institutions with different care schemes. Overall, the study can inform the practice of medical professionals involved in follow-up care after bariatric surgery.
Research Findings
The results section of the article comprehensively discusses each of the main themes. The participants’ experience is accessible to the readers, as the quotes are used to support the findings. The results are discussed in the context of previous research, with the authors using their earlier study to show the findings’ consistency with prior works (Coulman et al., 2017). Overall, the existing literature on the topic can be related to the findings. For example, the researchers point out the lack of psychological support previously addressed by Parretti et al. (2018). In conclusion, the study adds to the literature on the problem, expanding on previous studies.
Conclusion and Implications
Overall, the follow-up care after bariatric surgery is not optimal, and a new approach is required. The conclusion reflects the study’s findings, which suggest that patients are not satisfied with the quality of care. Further examination into effective follow-up care packages is recommended, with authors suggesting exploring community-based care. The researchers do not make the significance of the study explicit. However, it is noted that it can inform the current practice and how follow-up care is approached.
References
Coulman, K. D., MacKichan, F., Blazeby, J. M., Donovan, J. L., & Owen-Smith, A. (2020). Patients’ experiences of life after bariatric surgery and follow-up care: A qualitative study. BMJ Open, 10(2), 1-9.
Coulman, K. D., MacKichan, F., Blazeby, J. M., & Owen-Smith, A. (2017). Patient experiences of outcomes of bariatric surgery: A systematic review and qualitative synthesis. Obesity Reviews, 18(5), 547-559.
Parretti, H. M., Hughes, C. A., & Jones, L. L. (2018). ‘The rollercoaster of follow‐up care’ after bariatric surgery: A rapid review and qualitative synthesis. Obesity Reviews, 20(1), 88-107.