Interpreting Line Graphs Assignment

Interpreting Line Graphs Assignment

Interpreting Line Graphs Assignment

EXERCISE 7

69 Interpreting Line Graphs STATISTICAL TECHNIQUE IN REVIEW Tables and ?gures are commonly used to present ?ndings from studies or to provide a way for researchers to become familiar with research data. Using ?gures, researchers are able to illustrate the results from descriptive data analyses, assist in identifying patterns in data, identify changes over time, and interpret exploratory ?ndings. A line graph is a ?gure that is developed by joining a series of plotted points with a line to illustrate how a variable changes over time.

A line graph ?gure includes a horizontal scale, or x -axis, and a vertical scale, or y -axis. The x -axis is used to document time, and the y -axis is used to document the mean scores or values for a variable ( Grove, Burns, & Gray, 2013 ; Plichta & Kelvin, 2013 ). Researchers might include a line graph to compare the values for three or four variables in a study or to identify the changes in groups for a selected variable over time. For example, Figure 7-1 presents a line graph that documents time in weeks on the x -axis and mean weight loss in pounds on the y -axis for an experimental group consuming a low carbohydrate diet and a control group consuming a standard diet.

 

This line graph illustrates the trend of a strong, steady increase in the mean weight lost by the experimental or intervention group and minimal mean weight loss by the control group.

EXERCISE 7 FIGURE 7-1 ? LINE GRAPH COMPARING EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS FOR WEIGHT LOSS OVER FOUR WEEKS.

Weight loss (lbs)Weeksy-axisx-axisControlExperimental10864201234 70

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Source Azzolin, K., Mussi, C. M., Ruschel, K. B., de Souza, E. N., Lucena, A. D., & Rabelo-Silva, E. R. (2013). Effectiveness of nursing interventions in heart failure patients in home care using NANDA-I, NIC, and NOC. Applied Nursing Research, 26 (4), 239–244.

Introduction Azzolin and colleagues (2013) analyzed data from a larger randomized clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of 11 nursing interventions (NIC) on selected nursing out-comes (NOC) in a sample of patients with heart failure (HF) receiving home care. A total of 23 patients with HF were followed for 6 months after hospital discharge and provided four home visits and four telephone calls. The home visits and phone calls were organized using the nursing diagnoses from the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association International (NANDA-I) classi?cation list.

The researchers found that eight nursing interventions signi?cantly improved the nursing outcomes for these HF patients. Those interventions included “health education, self modi?cation assistance, behavior modi?cation, telephone consultation, nutritional counselling, teaching: prescribed medications, teaching: disease process, and energy management” ( Azzolin et al., 2013 , p. 243). The researchers concluded that the NANDA-I, NIC, and NOC linkages were useful in manag-ing patients with HF in their home.

Relevant Study Results Azzolin and colleagues (2013) presented their results in a line graph format to display the nursing outcome changes over the 6 months of the home visits and phone calls. The nursing outcomes were measured with a ?ve-point Likert scale with 1 = worst and 5 = best. “Of the eight outcomes selected and measured during the visits, four belonged to the health & knowledge behavior domain (50%), as follows: knowledge: treatment regimen; compliance behavior; knowledge: medication; and symptom control. Signi?cant increases were observed in this domain for all outcomes when comparing mean scores obtained at visits no. 1 and 4 ( Figure 1 ; p < 0.001 for all comparisons).

The other four outcomes assessed belong to three different NOC domains, namely, functional health (activity tolerance and energy conservation), physiologic health (?uid balance), and family health (family participation in professional care). The scores obtained for activity tolerance and energy conservation increased signi?cantly from visit no. 1 to visit no. 4 ( p = 0.004 and p < 0.001, respectively). Fluid balance and family participation in professional care did not show statistically signi?cant differences ( p = 0.848 and p = 0.101, respectively) ( Figure 2 )” ( Azzolin et al., 2013 , p. 241). The signi?cance level or alpha ( ? ) was set at 0.05 for this study.

Interpreting Line Graphs Assignment

? NURSING OUTCOMES MEASURED OVER 6 MONTHS (OTHER DOMAINS): Activity tolerance (95% CI ? 1.38 to ? 0.18, p = 0.004); energy conservation (95% CI ? 0.62 to ? 0.19, p < 0.001); ? uid balance (95% CI ? 0.25 to 0.07, p = .848); family participation in professional care (95% CI ? 2.31 to ? 0.11, p = 0.101). HV = home visit. CI = con? dence interval. Azzolin, K., Mussi, C. M., Ruschel, K. B., de Souza, E. N., Lucena, A. D., & Rabelo-Silva, E. R. (2013). Effectiveness of nursing interventions in heart failure patients in home care using NANDA-I, NIC, and NOC. Applied Nursing Research, 26 (4), p. 242. 5.04.54.03.53.02.52.01.51.00.50MeanHV1HV2HV3HV4

Fluid balance Family participation in professional care Activity tolerance Energy conservation FIGURE 1

? NURSING OUTCOMES MEASURED OVER 6 MONTHS (HEALTH & KNOWLEDGE BEHAVIOR DOMAIN): Knowledge: medication (95% CI ? 1.66 to ? 0.87, p < 0.001); knowledge: treatment regimen (95% CI ? 1.53 to ? 0.98, p < 0.001); symptom control (95% CI ? 1.93 to ? 0.95, p < 0.001); and compliance behavior (95% CI ? 1.24 to ? 0.56, p < 0.001). HV = home visit. CI = con?dence interval. 5.04.54.03.53.02.52.01.51.00.50MeanHV1HV2HV3HV4

Compliance behavior Symptom control Knowledge: medicationKnowledge: treatment reg 72EXERCISE 7

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What is the purpose of a line graph? What elements are included in a line graph?

2. Review Figure 1 and identify the focus of the x -axis and the y -axis. What is the time frame for the x -axis? What variables are presented on this line graph?

3. In Figure 1 , did the nursing outcome compliance behavior change over the 6 months of home visits? Provide a rationale for your answer.

4. State the null hypothesis for the nursing outcome compliance behavior.

5. Was there a signi? cant difference in compliance behavior from the ? rst home visit (HV1) to the fourth home visit (HV4)? Was the null hypothesis accepted or rejected? Provide a rationale for your answer.

6. In Figure 1 , what outcome had the lowest mean at HV1? Did this outcome improve over the four home visits? Provide a rationale for your answer.