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Stereotactic Radiosurgery

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When evaluating a research study, it is important to understand the design of the study and how that design impacts the study, analysis and conclusion. The article chosen for review of a quantitative study was, “Strategies to Alleviate Anxiety Before the Placement of a Stereotactic Radiosurgery Frame” by Ufuoma Avbovbo and Susan Appel from the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pre-procedural education would reduce/alleviate anxiety in patients undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery undergoing a head frame placement (Avbovbo & Appel, 2016). This study utilized a pretest/posttest design at a single-center with a nonequivalent control group to assess the impact of pre-procedural education on anxiety. This type of …show more content…

198). The nonequivalent control group does not allow for randomization and thus the control and intervention group could have differences from the onset of the study that affect the outcomes. This study included participants greater than age 19 and less than age 75. One might argue that this widely varying age group has differing needs related to education, as well as the ability to retain and understand information that is provided. Additionally, it did not address other contributing factors to the study participants that may have impacted their ability to learn and understand. Considerations may have included current mental state, prior interventions such as cranial surgery, or influence of medications such as anti-seizure/steroid/chemotherapy drugs. The patients in the study all had metastatic brain lesions. The previously stated interventions can often affect the patient’s cognitive state and the ability of the patients to learn/retain the information that was taught to them in the pre-procedural

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