Analysis of Health Research Question -

Imagine that you are the friend of student and have just had the study explained to you. Explain how you think the results of the study that your friend described to you might be applied to the general population that was being studied. Propose one additional question to your friend about the research study that you would like the answer to. Kristi Etchechury explained.

During the course of this class we have reviewed a few research articles with the most recent being "HIV Risk-Reduction Counseling and Testing on Behavior Change of MSM". MSM stands for men who have sex with other men. This study was done because the rate of HIV and aids is high among this population. This study had over 400 participants. They were interviewed one-on-one and were asked about their medical and sexual history/behaviors.

After the baseline interviews there were follow-ups done at months 6, 12 and 18. The study showed that risky behavior decreased in the first year but slightly increased in the last six months of the study. The study also showed that the incidence of HIV and unprotected sex continually decreased during the time of the study. Data in a study may be significant or non-significant to the study. Significant data is made up of at least two variables that result in valid/dependable result(s).

The significant data can help prove the hypothesis and/or research questions. Non-significant data is data that doesn't add to proving the hypothesis true. An example of significant data from this study is the 7% increase from baseline to the end of the study of having more than one sexual partner. Non-significant data would be the increase in risk behaviors between month 12 to 18.

Reference - Huan, X., Tang, W., Babu, G., Li, J., Zhang, M., Liu, X., Yan, H., Fu, G., Zhao, J., Yang, H., & Detels, R. (2013). HIV Risk-Reduction Counseling and Testing on Behavior Change of MSM. PLoS One, 8(7), 1-22, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069740. Retrieved from the PubMed Central database.