Critical Appraisal: A Must in the Medical Field - Free Report Example

Introduction

The application of critical appraisal in the medical field is exceptionally relevant to delineate useful inventions from harmful ones. It involves a careful and systematic exploration of research articles to critique their reliability, utility, and relevance in a particular context (Bryman, 2017). Research quality is concerned with good composure and internal validity or free from biasedness reflection (Bryman, 2017). Consequently, the research review must be done, especially in selecting performance, discovery, and attrition, where biasedness usually falls; thus, data processing and analysis must be executed from data collection, collation, and information interpretation (Bryman, 2017). This paper aims to critically appraise four research articles that applied quantitative and qualitative research methods when investigating handwashing's effectiveness in controlling the spread of COVID-19.

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Background of Studies

The Problem of Studies

COVID-19, a new viral strain most frequently transmitted via respiratory droplets from an infected person and direct and indirect contact with contaminated surfaces, has posed a great demand for the current healthcare system and the economy (World Health Organization, 2020). According to the World Health Organization (2020) report on August 18, 2020, over 21 million confirmed pandemic cases and 771,635 succumbed to the virus. Consequently, scholars and scientists have been challenged to determine and recommend better ways and techniques to minimize its spread. One of the recommended ways to control the coronavirus's spread was handwashing, therefore investigating its efficiency would ultimately provide an insight to the healthcare practitioners.

Significance of the Studies to Nursing

The critically appraised articles' findings would significantly contribute to the healthcare sector's benefit and the general public. For instance, the research results would imply that observing the recommended PPE through instant, thorough handwashing, and maintaining proper hand hygiene would significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 (Rundle et al., 2020). Therefore, health practitioners would utilize the outcomes to encourage patients and sensitize the general public to follow those guidelines to curb infectious diseases.

Purpose and Research Questions of the Studies

The purpose of the study by Cirrincione et al. (2020) was to provide a procedure to avert COVID-19 spread using inadequate Coronavirus information. Its research question was: What are the effective measures in COVID-19 prevention? Pradhan et al. (2020) intended to identify the prevention interventions of COVID-19 with a research question; What is the effect of the available COVID-19 prevention intervention?

Similarly, the study by Rundle et al. (2020) purposed to endorse proper hand hygiene as a preventative measure to the pandemic. The research question; how can handwashing be useful in preventing COVID-19? Ma et al. (2020) were to identify the potential utilities obtained through wearing masks and washing hands. The study's research question was: What are the effects of wearing masks and hand hygiene on COVID-19 spread?

The Relevance of the Appraised Articles to the PICOT Question

The four critically appraised research articles were in pursuit of controlling the spread of COVID-19 in the world population through handwashing and mask-wearing. The article by Cirrincione et al. (2020) presents proper handwashing with soap and water as an essential measure to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and should be done for at least 40-60 seconds; however, hand disinfectants with 62 – 71 percent alcohol-based can be used in the absence of water and soap.

The second study by Pradhan et al. (2020) involved the routine usage of an effective detergent for handwashing, sanitizers, and PPE as the foundation of significant protection against viral infection. Although Pradhan et al. (2020) recommended using hand sanitizers, their biocidal potentiality or effectiveness relies on alcoholic strength. The third article presents handwashing as a preventative measure of the COVID-19 pandemic (Ma et al., 2020). Lastly was a case study by Rundle et al., 2020 that involved hand hygiene and mask-wearing for fighting SARS-CoV-2.

Therefore, these appraised articles provide a credible relevance to the PICOT question: In the world population, how effective is handwashing compared to using sanitizers in controlling the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic outbreak? The Articles had handwashing as the Intervention, hand sanitizers as the control, and controlling the coronavirus's spread as the outcome.

The Research Methods Used in the Appraised Articles

The first two utilized quantitative research designs with similar methodology and systematic reviews. Systematic reviews, the gold standard, have been developed in medical science to produce transparent, systematic, and reproducible research findings (Bryman, 2017). Systematic reviews can be described as a research method to identify and critically evaluate relevant research and data collection and analysis (Bryman, 2017). The reviews aim to answer a particular research hypothesis or question by identifying all possible evidence that fits the pre-determined inclusion criteria.

The research by Cirrincione et al. (2020) explored the guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) to the pandemic-affected countries. Besides, the prevention and control procedures recommended for other pathogen-causing epidemics belonging to the coronaviruses or inhibiting similar transmission mechanisms were analyzed. The study by Pradhan et al. (2020) conducted a retrospective analysis comparing the previous and current pandemic case studies of the WHO. These case studies were examined to reveal studies with reliable and effective measures for reducing the COVID-19 spread.

The other two studies utilized qualitative research methods. Qualitative research involves non-numerical data collection and analysis to understand experiences, concepts, or opinions in a research study (Bryman, 2017). Besides, it entails interviews, observations, and collecting existing information or critically appraising articles on the subject matter. Since the application of handwashing in controlling the spread of coronaviruses involves human behavior and the logic governing the habit of frequent and proper handwashing, the researchers applied qualitative research methods to explore the subject.

The study by Rundle et al. (2020) provided an overview of preventative measures to identify the best practices in mitigating contagious diseases. At the same time, Ma et al. (2020) research combined literature reviewed from previous studies and conducted the efficacy experiment of different types of masks with the avian influenza virus (AIV) to mock coronavirus and instant hand evaluation wiping. The virus concentration was varied using a chain reaction of real-time reverse transcription-polymerase. Simultaneously, wet towels soaked in water containing soap powder, sodium hypochlorite, and active chlorine solutions were used to wipe hands during the study.

Advantages and Limitations of Methods

According to Bryman (2017), biasedness can be minimized when using systematic and explicit methods during article review for available evidence, hence providing consistent findings for drawing meaningful inferences and making critical decisions. They also deliver a vibrant and comprehensive summary of the available evidence in a specified context and identify research gaps in the current understanding. Nevertheless, different studies' findings can be hard to combine because the scholars might have done their investigation differently (Bryman, 2017). Similarly, comparing the findings of two or more studies may be challenging due to the difference in the original study length, the number of participants, and other contributing factors.

Results of the study

Findings of the Studies

According to Cirrincione et al. (2020), evidence-based outcomes revealed that viruses are efficiently inactivated by extraordinary cleaning and sanitization procedures. Therefore, the adoption of extraordinary cleaning, and sanitization measures using suitable disinfectants, paying attention to any organic residues' removal, and intensified frequency with which these activities would curb the virus's spread.

The retrospective analysis by Pradhan et al. (2020) provided proof that anticipates the decisive roles of protective procedures in regulating the 2013 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The analysis disclosed that upholding efficacious Infection prevention and control (IPC) reduced healthcare-associated infections by over 30 percent. Although using disinfectants for surface cleaning, detergents, hand sanitizers, and PPE are recommended for controlling the virus's spread, their defensive efficiency entirely depends on the disinfectants' strength and alcohol content sanitizers, and the material used for PPE manufacturing.

According to Rundle et al. (2020), proper hand hygiene is an accepted practice that is likely to decrease infectious disease transmission by 24-31 percent. The research ascertained that there are several hand hygiene products with varied efficacy and safety. Generally, the use of water and soap, followed by moisturizers, is recommended to be the best hand hygiene practice. In contrast, 60 percent of alcohol-based sanitizers can only be used in their unavailability. Ma et al. (2020) resolved that prompt wiping of hands using a wet towel immersed in water containing one percent solution of soap powder removed 98.36 percent of the virus's hand. Also, 0.25 percent of sodium hypochlorite and 0.05 percent of active chlorine cleaned 99.98 percent or 96.62 percent. This study's outcomes purport that proper hand hygiene maintenance would expressively lower the coronavirus's rapid spread.

Implications of the Findings to the Nursing Practice

These research results would imply that observing the recommended PPE through instant and thorough handwashing would significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 (Ma et al., 2020). Similarly, adopting extraordinary cleaning, and sanitization measures using suitable disinfectants while paying attention to any organic residues' removal, and intensified frequency of such activities would curb the virus's spread (Cirrincione et al., 2020). As health practitioners, it is necessary to encourage the patients and sensitize the general public to follow these guidelines to curb infectious diseases.

Ethical Considerations

Ethics in a research study is an integral aspect of research. Although there are several codes of conduct guiding the research work, some of the ethical considerations in this paper include minimizing the risk of harm to participants and anonymity protection.

Minimizing the Risk of Harm to Participants

The participants' safety should be a top priority of the research work. As an ethical consideration, research participants should not be subjected to harm whatsoever. Therefore, all researchers should uphold and follow the code of conduct by minimizing any anticipated harm. However, if there are possibilities that participants could be harmed, then a strong reason must be provided (Bryman, 2017).

Protecting anonymity and confidentiality

The privacy of the participants' data and the anonymity of respondents must be kept confidential (Bryman, 2017). To the protection participants' privacy, full consent should be obtained before the study. However, sometimes privacy could be limited. For instance, at-risk participants of harm need to be helped by releasing classified information to the right staff.