Critical Analysis Of A Quantitative Research Article Article Critique (Article Critique Sample)

Criteria

Assessment

Supporting Evidence/Comments

1. Is the title representative of the research report?

0 Yes 0 No0 Maybe?

The title highlights the aim of the study which is to establish the efficacy and safety of Diclofenac Sodium 1% gel in Knee Osteoarthritis. Stating that it is knee osteoarthritis is important as that ensures that the reader knows the study is focused on only OA pain localized on the knees. In addition, the title also shows that the study design used was a randomized controlled trial.

2. Does the introduction state the problem and address its significance to nursing?

0 Yes 0 No0 Maybe?

Patients with Osteoarthritis have a number of medication options to manage pain that they can choose from. However, all options are associated with adverse effects and different efficacy rates. In addition, most patients’ have been known to prefer not to seek treatment or choose over-the-counter drugs.
With Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) being one of the latest available options, there arises the need for testing their efficacy and safety as an option for dealing with localized OA pain.

3. Is the review of the literature thorough and reflect critical analysis?

0 Yes 0 No0 Maybe?

The paper does not provide sufficient literature review of the study area and there is no section dedicated to the literature review. For both efficacy and safety of Topical NSAIDs and other OA medication, the authors do not provide a review of existing literature to inform the reader on the issues relating to these two outcomes. In addition, the study does not review literature to show how other studies measured the two outcomes. Only brief information about the background of the study can be found in the introduction.

4. Are the research questions and / or
hypotheses clearly written?

0 Yes 0 No0 Maybe?

While the paper clearly states that the main objective is to establish the efficacy and safety of topical DFG for symptomatic knee OA, no research questions and hypothesis are provided.

5. Are the independent and dependent variables identified?

0 Yes 0 No0 Maybe?
0 Not Applicable

Although not clearly stated, the dependent variables were efficacy and safety. The independent variables were topical DFG and vehicle. The study sought to establish how topical DFG and vehicle (differed with DFG only by not having diclofenac)

6. Was a methodological design described?

0 Yes 0 No0 Maybe?

The study used a randomized, double-blind, parallel group, multicenter study. However, the authors did not provide more information about the methodological design. A novice in statistics or methodological designs would find it hard to understand this.

7. Was the setting used to collect the
data described?