Acknowledging Fatigue Of Tired Women

Running head: ACKNOWLEDGING FATIGUE OF TIRED WOMEN

Acknowledging Unexplained Fatigue of Tired Women

The title "Acknowledging Unexplained Fatigue of Tired Women" indicates a qualitative study. This study is applicable to women (aged 18 years or more) with the symptoms of fatigue, depression, sense of powerless, and body aches.

The problem is stated clearly throughout the introduction. The background information illustrates that fatigue is not well understood. If the patterns associated with fatigue were better understood, diagnosis, treatment, and management of symptoms would be attainable. Justification for this study is based on the principle that no previous research has taken place focusing on the patterns of fatigue. These must be understood in order to treat accurately. The specific significance of the problem to the nursing practice is not stated within the text. One can deduce that fatigue is multi-dimensional syndrome that requires care from all members of the interdisciplinary team, which includes nurses. The problem can be researched using objective measures to find correlations of fatigue and related symptoms.

The literature review precedes the explanation of the study. In this section, there is examination of treatment studies that have proven therapeutic for fatigue symptoms, including thyroid hormones and antidepressants. The review of the literature demonstrates that the best approach of care has not been found and there is a need to clearly define the patterns of fatigue. Classic research cited was Aaronson et. al (1999), which examined "fatigue physiological, intrapersonal, and psychosocial patterns related" (Dzurec, 42). Current research included in the literature review included Dzurec et al. (2000), in which the results show that anti-depressants are inadequate for long-term fatigue (Dzurec, 42). Supporting studies showed need for research in this area and opposing studies were those of pharmacological treatment. The literature review is logically organized by first stating the drug research, why it is ineffective, the need to redefine patterns to find a cause and therefore find the treatment that works. A primary resource included is Aaronson et. al (1999) and a secondary source was the American Associations of Clinical Endocrinologist website. There is no summary of the literature review, but there is an appropriate statement of purpose and research cues.

The purpose is clearly stated. The statement is appropriate for a qualitative study as it emphasizes verbal description and meaning of experiences.

The research method used is a quasi-experimental design with descriptive and comparative techniques. The rational for use of this design was absent from the text. Given the purpose of the study, the design deems appropriate based on the need for indicators of the symptoms. The issues of rigor are addressed by measuring questions objectively as well as subjectively.

The sample was selected by convenience using snowball techniques to recruit women. Sample size was determined by alpha set of .05 with anticipation of an large effect size. This is appropriate for a general study. There were four criteria for inclusion: the participant must be generally healthy, non-pregnant, pre-menopausal, and aged 18 years or greater. General health was measured by regular participation in daily activities and school, work, or home and normal CBC, non-fasting blood glucose level test, BUN, serum creatnine, and iron tests. The tests were administered to rule out abnormalities that may cause fatigue.

The steps in the data collection process were cleared stated in the text The instruments utilized was pen and paper tests including a demographic form, the MFSC, the CES-D, and the PKPCT. Appropriateness of instruments was measured by a panel, which supported the validity of the test for the specific uses of this study.

All participants signed the informed consent and the procedures were approved by the International Review Board. There is no mention of anonymity or confidentiality of participants within the study.

The data was analyzed using 1-tailed t tests and adjusted by a Bonferroni significance test. For significance of the symptomatic group, a Pearson correlation was administered. There is no mention of who analyzed the research or the data program used. Based on the noted tests used, one can deduce that the software used was Statview, as a Pearson correlation was used.

The findings presented were that the differences between all four instruments were found statistically significant. Researchers note that the differences were expected, as well as, the directions were expected. The direction of the differences is not noted in the text, as well as the expected direction is not noted. This leads to unclear descriptions of the results. It is however, made clear that depression and fatigue are positively correlated, and depression and sense of power are negatively correlated. There is no use of tables or graphs to illustrate the results, a visual aid may have furthered the understanding of the results, especially in the area of correlation direction.

The significant findings related to the purpose of the study in that the research objectively described