Quantitative and Qualitative Research Concepts
Introduction to quantitative research concept
In nursing, provision of long-term care to the patients with chronic illness is very essential. For patients with diabetes, they should be guided on the key issues they need to take into consideration to ensure they are able to control their blood sugars. As stated in the self-care nursing theory, patients with long-term illness also have the responsibility in improving their health outcome. One of the ways of ensuring that they can carry out basic activities in an attempt to regulate their blood sugars (Pozzo et al., 2016).Such activities include regular administration of insulin at the appropriate time and balanced diet observation. Carrying out physical activities is believed to play a significant role is assisting patients with type two diabetes to regulate their sugars. The effects of physical activities on diabetes can be determined through carrying a quantitative research.
Type two diabetes is manageable. It is caused by chemicals and radicals produced in the body because of the food we eat thereby blocking the insulin receptors or modifying the structure of the receptors. The result is the failure of insulin to bind the receptors thus glucose intake in the cells is prevented since the channels capable of permitting the glucose entry are not opened. The opening of this channel depends highly on the binding of insulin to its receptor. Glucose, therefore, accumulates in the general circulation(Mendes, Sousa, Themudo-Barata, & Reis, 2016). Other causes include the inability of the body to produce enough insulin capable of permitting entry of enough glucose to the cells. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells. When glucose accumulates in circulation, it “glycerate” with hemoglobin to form HbA1c and the level of HbA1c in the circulation can be used to estimate if a person is diabetic or not(Mendes, Sousa, Themudo-Barata, & Reis, 2016). More than five percent of HbA1c in the body is a true indicator that a person is diabetic.
The research can be conducted to determine the effects of physical activities on patients with type two diabetes. These can be accomplished through monitoring the HbA1c levels in the body. The null hypothesis is that the relationship between the levels of physical activities and the HbA1c levels of patients with type two diabetes is directly proportional. The alternative hypothesis that can be tested in the study is that the relationship between physical activities and the levels of HbA1c in the body is inversely proportional(Teh et al., 2015). The dependent variable, in this case, is the level of physical activity while the independent variable is the HbA1c in the body.
The correlation analysis is a type of quantitative method used to determine the relationship between the one independent and one dependent variable. Correlation is used to determine to which extent two variables fluctuate from each other. A positive correlation is used to determine how the two variables increase or decrease together while negative correlation determines how the two variables fluctuate as one increases and the other decrease.
In this research, a correlation analysis can be conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between the HbA1c and the physical activities in patients with type two diabetes. The assumption is that physical activities enable removal of false ligands thus allowing maximum interaction between insulin and insulin binding receptor. Additionally, it allows proper circulation of blood aiding in the distribution of insulin in the body. These are key in enabling the reduction of glycated hemoglobin. The levels of HbA1c in patients carrying out physical activity is expected to decline. Most notably, nurses can, therefore, emphasize physical activity to patients with type two diabetes (Sweet et al., 2012). This can be used as an evidenced based practices to improve the health outcome of the patients with diabetes.
References
Mendes, R., Sousa, N., Themudo-Barata, J., & Reis, V. (2016). Impact of a community-based exercise programme on physical fitness in middle-aged and older patients with type 2 diabetes. Gaceta Sanitaria, 30(3), 215-220. doi:10.1016/j.gaceta.2016.01.007
Pozzo, M. J., Mociulsky, J., Martinez, E. T., Senatore, G., Farias, J. M., Sapetti, A., …Lemme, L. (2016). Diabetes and Quality of Life. American Journal of Therapeutics, 23(1), e159-e171. doi:10.1097/01.mjt.0000433949.24277.19
Sweet, S. N., Fortier, M. S., Guérin, E., Tulloch, H., Sigal, R. J., Kenny, G. P., & Reid, R. D. (2012). Understanding physical activity in adults with type 2 diabetes after completing an exercise intervention trial: A mediation model of self-efficacy and autonomous motivation. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 14(4), 419-429. doi:10.1080/13548500903111806
Teh, C. H., Chan, Y. Y., Lim, K. H., Kee, C. C., Lim, K. K., Yeo, P. S., … Nazni, W. A. (2015). Association of physical activity with blood pressure and blood glucose among Malaysian adults: a population-based study. BMC Public Health, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2528-1
