NURS 8310 WEEK 4 EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY DESIGNS
Health problems negatively impact individuals and populations; hence, there is a need to prevent and manage them. Therefore, researchers and other stakeholders have used various strategies and methods to prevent and minimize their impacts. One such approach is research. Through using various designs, researchers and other health experts have a chance to gain a deeper insight into a public or a population’s health problems and formulate strategies to mitigate them. As part of the research, epidemiological study designs have been used to study health problems that affect individuals and populations, as well as the impact of various health interventions (Curley, 2020). Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to identify an epidemiologic association of interest and determine a suitable study design that can be used in exploring the association.
The Population Health Topic and Research Question
The population health topic of focus chosen for this assignment is the association between hormone replacement therapy and increased risk of breast cancer among women. Even though the prevalence of breast cancer has been dropping slightly in the last decade due to improved diagnosis, treatment, and management techniques, the disease is still a major problem that needs attention (Giaquinto et al.,2022). Hormone replacement therapy has been connected to an increased risk of breast cancer. Hormone replacement therapy entails the use of certain medications to help replace some hormones that the body fails to sufficiently produce. In particular, combination hormone replacement therapy, which integrates the use of both progesterone and estrogen, is likely to expose the patient to increased breast cancer risk (Langer et al.,2021). Therefore, the exploration of this association will be the center of this study.
Research Question: What is the comparative risk of developing breast cancer when using hormone replacement therapy as compared to not using the therapy among postmenopausal women?
The Appropriate Epidemiologic Study Design
It is important to identify a suitable study design that can be used to explore the problem of focus. Therefore, the most suitable design for this topic is a prospective cohort study. This is a type of design that entails following a group of people over a specified duration with the major aim of observing the development of outcomes of interest (Friis & Sellers, 2021). This design would allow a follow-up on postmenstrual women with no breast cancer at the beginning of the study. Exposure assessment can then be done by assessing the participant’s use of hormone replacement therapy and any potential changes during the study period. As part of this design, there will be a need to follow up the research subjects prospectively over a particular period of time to track the occurrence of breast cancer. Besides, it will also be important to collect data on breast cancer diagnoses through various strategies.
Data Collection Activities to Be Used
Data collection forms an important part of any research process. Therefore, it is important to use strategies that will support a comprehensive collection of the data. As such, various strategies can be employed in this context. One of them is an interview or survey conducted at baselines. This baseline interview or survey can be used to collect demographic information such as lifestyle factors, reproductive history, and medical history, among others. It can be achieved through in-person interviews (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2021). Information regarding hormone replacement therapy can also be collected at baseline, and a periodical update can be done during the follow-ups. Such data can also be collected through medical record abstraction or follow-up surveys. Medical record review will also be used to help confirm the diagnoses of breast cancer and get detailed information regarding the cases. As such, it would be easier to be more accurate regarding breast cancer cases.
