Health lab report
HS2000: Health Sciences Research Report #2 REDUCED SLEEP AND WEIGHT GAIN
120 points
This lab assignment is designed to help you familiarize yourself with health research and understand the scientific method. You will practice reading, comprehending, and applying scientific concepts to research articles.
Assignment formatting guidelines:
• Your report should contain the following sections numbered and titled as shown below. Do NOT submit your assignment in essay format, type your answers directly into the sections below.
• In addition to the points below, you will be graded on the quality of writing, which includes use of proper grammar, spelling, and clarity of thought in writing.
• Reports must be typed using Times New Roman 12 point font or 11 point Arial, Calibri, or Cambria with 1” margins.
• Reports must be uploaded to moodle by the due date as a Word document (.doc, .docx) or as a rich text file (.rtf). Any other formats will not be graded and late penalties will apply.
• APA format must be used for all in-text citations and for the formatting of the references section.
Learning Objectives
In completing this assignment students will demonstrate that they can:
1. Identify the purpose and hypothesis of a peer-reviewed research study. 2. Explain and critique study design and variable measurement. 3. Describe sample characteristics and identify similarities with and differences between the
sample and the study population. 4. Interpret statistical tests and relationships between variables. 5. Develop conclusions about a research study.
6.
An article entitled “Association between reduced sleep and weight gain in women” by Patel and colleagues is posted on Moodle. This research article is considered “peer-reviewed literature.” Please read this article thoroughly, and answer the following questions below. All answers must be in your own words. Paraphrase, do not use direct quotations.
1. Study Purpose (9 points total)
a. In your own words, what is the purpose of this research study? (3 points) b. In your own words, what is the hypothesis the researchers are testing? (3 points) c. Is this research important? Why or why not? (This is an opinion question, but you may
consider using outside credible or peer-reviewed references to support and strengthen your response.) (3 points)
STEP 1: Review the research article on Moodle, Association between reduced sleep and weight gain in women” by Patel and colleagues (80 points)
https://moodle.oakland.edu/pluginfile.php/4394678/mod_resource/content/12/RR2_Sleep%20Winter%202018.docx 3/24/18, 10G01 AM Page 1 of 4
2. Study participants (28 points total) The participants in this study were part of the Nurses’ Health Study. When answering the following questions, you should paraphrase information provided in the article AND find additional information on the Nurses’ Health Study beyond what is provided in the article.
a. Explain the overall purpose of the Nurses Health Study. (5 points) b. Describe the participants of the Nurses’ Health Study. (5 points) c. Identify and explain two strengths of the Nurses’ Health Study. (4 points) d. Identify and explain two weaknesses of the Nurses’ Health Study. (4 points)
e. Refer to Table 1 in the research article to describe sample participants that were included in the study’s data analysis. Use the table below to report characteristics of the participants. Be sure to include the units or labels for each variable. In the last two rows of the table, choose two other variables to report. (10 points)
Sleep Duration (hours/24-hour period) >
≤ 5 6 7 8 ≥ 9
Number of Subjects % of sample* Weight Age Daily Caffeine intake Alcohol Variable 1 Variable 2
* this information is found in the text, not in table 1.
3. Methods and Measurements (16 points total)
a. How was weight assessed in this study? (2 points) b. Identify and explain one strength and one weakness of how weight was assessed.
These should be different than strengths/weaknesses of the Nurses’ Health Study. (4 points)
c. What TWO outcome variables were used to describe changes in weight status over time? (4 points)
d. How was sleep assessed? (2 points) e. Identify and explain one strength and one weakness of this assessment. These should
be different than strengths/weaknesses of the Nurses’ Health Study. (4 points)
4. Results
a. Outcomes: Sleep and weight. (7 points total)
i. What participant characteristics were associated with sleeping less? (5 points) ii. At the end of the follow-up (after 16 years) how many women gained more than
15kg? What percent of the sample is this? (2 points)
b. Relationship between Sleep and Weight Change (10 points total)
Figure 1 shows regression lines examining changes in weight over time by sleep category (age-adjusted). This data is also represented in the top 1/3 of Table 2 (the age-adjusted model results). Note that 7 hours of sleep is the “reference group” that other groups are compared with.
https://moodle.oakland.edu/pluginfile.php/4394678/mod_resource/content/12/RR2_Sleep%20Winter%202018.docx 3/24/18, 10G01 AM Page 2 of 4
i. What does this graph suggest about the relationship between hours of sleep and weight gain? (3 points)
ii. Compared to those who got 7 hours of sleep, how much more weight did the other groups gain over the ten years? (3 points)
iii. Which group had the highest weight gain in 2002? (2 points) iiii. Which group had the lowest weight gain in 2002? (2 points)
c. Conclusion (5 points)
What does this study suggest about the role of sleep in weight gain? d. Confounders (5 points)
i. Which variables were included as confounders in the hazard ratio-adjusted analysis? (Hint: see figures 2 and 3). (3 points)
ii. Select two of the variables and explain why they was likely chosen as a confounder. (2 points)
e. Extra credit (+ 5 points)
Explain and interpret a hazard ratio from Table 3.
Good researchers don’t just rely on one study in understanding relationships between health and behaviors. When conducting research, they find other studies that are similar and compare results. We want you to practice finding similar studies here.
Using the Kresge Library website, and the searching techniques you learned about in class, find TWO peer-reviewed, original research study, published in the past 5 years that is similar to the study by Patel and colleagues examining relationships between sleep and weight status.
1. Identify the search database you used, the search terms (include any quotes used in
searching) and how many search results your search identified. Also include any limits you used (e.g. English-only, humans-only, etc.)
2. Cut and paste the abstract of the article you found that would make a good comparison to the study by Patel and colleagues. Using APA style, include the reference for this journal article in the reference list at the end of this assignment (see step 4).
3. Briefly explain why this study would make a good comparison study. 4. Summarize the conclusions of this study in your own words.
STUDY 1: (10 points)
1. Search database and search terms 2. Abstract 3. Why is this a good comparison study? 4. Conclusions of this study.
STUDY 2: (10 points)
1. Search database and search terms 2. Abstract
STEP 2: Find related research studies. (25 points)
https://moodle.oakland.edu/pluginfile.php/4394678/mod_resource/content/12/RR2_Sleep%20Winter%202018.docx 3/24/18, 10G01 AM Page 3 of 4
3. Why is this a good comparison study? 4. Conclusions of this study.
5. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the study by Patel and colleagues and the two studies you found, what conclusions do you draw about the relationship between sleep and weight status? (5 points)
Here’s a link to APA formatting guidelines: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/. Use "Reference List: Articles in Periodicals" for journal article formatting. Pay attention to small details, such as placement of periods, use of italics, capitalization, etc. Note: You only need to format the in-text citations and references, not the entire report, using APA formatting rules.
REFERENCES (5 points each)
1 of 4
STEP 3: Using APA citation formatting, create a reference list. Your reference list must contain a minimum of 3 references: (1) the article we gave you for STEP 1 and (2) topically-related articles you found in STEP 2. Also include any other articles you may have referenced in this assignment. (15 points)
https://moodle.oakland.edu/pluginfile.php/4394678/mod_resource/content/12/RR2_Sleep%20Winter%202018.docx 3/24/18, 10G01 AM Page 4 of 4