Bibliography Assignments

Annotated Sources


1.  This article addressed the perceptions of a community in Ghana in regards to malaria and how that affected the effectiveness of health education and treatment.

Ahorlu, Collins K., et al. "Malaria-related beliefs and behaviour in southern Ghana: implications for treatment, prevention and control." Tropical Medicine and International Health 2.5 (1997): 488-499. Wiley Online Library. Web. 10 Jan. 2011.

2.  This article addressed the perception of a Ghanaian community on insecticide treated bednets. It found that many did not realize that the use of ITN's was a way to prevent malaria transmission.

Abongo, Philip B., Kirkwook, Betty, and Kendall, Carl. "How local community knowlegde about malaria affects insecticide-treated net use in northern Ghana." Tropical Medicine and International Health 10.4 (2005): 366-378. Wiley Online Library. Web. 14 Jan. 2011.

3. This study looked into two possible malaria prevention methods, intermittent preventive treatment and intermittent screening tests with rapid treatments. The effectiveness as well as costs and benefits of each method were studied and considered.

Tagbor, Harry, et al. "Intermittent Screening and Treatment versus Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy: A Randomised Controlled Non-Inferiority Trial." PubMed. National Library of Medicine. Jan. 20, 2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010999/pdf/pone.0014425.pdf>

4. Intermittent preventive treatment with timely home treatment was tested on children in a Ghanaian community and found that it reduced the occurance of febrile malaria by 88%.

Ahorlu, Collins K., Koram, Kwadwo A., Seakey, Atsu K., Weiss, Mitchell G. "Effectiveness of combined intermittent preventive treatment for children and timely home treatment for malaria control." Malaria Journal 8.292 (2009) Web. 25 Jan 2011.

1.   5.    This source gives a brief overview of the effects of malaria worldwide and statistics on it.

World Health Organization. 2011. World Health Organization, March 2009. Web site. 24 Jan. 2011.

2.     6.  This is the world health statistics report. It gives statistics on malaria deaths by region and country.

World Health Statistics. 2010. World Health Organization, January 2010. PDF. 26 Jan. 2011.

3.    7.   Reports the conclusions of the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda meeting. Implementation strategies. Knowledge base established. Research focus determined.

Alonso PL, Brown G, Arevalo-Herrera M, Binka F, Chitnis C, et al. A Research Agenda to Underpin Malaria Eradication. PLoS Med 8(1): e1000406 (2011). Web. 2 Feb. 2011.

8. Explains the use of anti-malarial drugs in the malaria eradication strategy proposed by the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda.

The malERA Consultative Group on Drugs  A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Drugs. PLoS Med 8(1): e1000402 (2011). Web. 5 Feb. 2011.

9. This page gives the WHO's insight on the strategies and challenges of global malaria eradication. It gives a brief history of the previous Global Malaria Eradication Program, what hindered it's effectiveness and what  has happened since it's abandonment in 1969.

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/2/07-050633/en/

10. The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda home page. Provides articles summarizing the results of a 2010 meeting on the current efforts of malaria eradication and proposed research agendas.

http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info:doi/10.1371/issue.pcol.v07.i13

 Polypharmacy

1. Polypharmacy in the Elderly: A Literature Review. Provides a review of the current literature on polypharmacy. The questions answered in this article were 1. how is polypharmacy defined in the literature 2. What methods are provided by primary care providers to assess polypharmacy in older individuals 3. What interventions do primary care providers utilize to decrease medications that are not clinically indicated in the older population.


http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1041-2972.2005.0020.x/pdf

2. Polypharmacy and the Elderly. Describes considerations when prescribing medications to the elderly. Which drugs should not be prescribed to the elderly and pharmacokinetic changes for drugs when used by the elderly.


http://stacommunications.com/journals/cme/images/cmepdf/august01/polypharmacyapvd.pdf

3. Diagnosis and control of polypharmacy in the elderly. A review covering the different definitions of polypharmacy, statistics on inpatient/outpatient occurences, economic impacts, and control measures.

http://www.scielosp.org/pdf/rsp/v41n6/6063.pdf

4. Beers revised list of potentially inappropriate prescriptions for adults age 65 and older.

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content-nw/full/163/22/2716/TABLEIOI20821T1
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content-nw/full/163/22/2716/TABLEIOI20821T2
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content-nw/full/163/22/2716/TABLEIOI20821T3


The article where the lists were published.


http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/archinte;163/22/2716#TABLEIOI20821T1

5. Polypharmacy as an Indicator of Mortality in an Elderly Population. 


http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=106&sid=3f40b14e-c52b-4db9-87a6-d476d698bc21%40sessionmgr110#

6.  Oxford university press article on the progression of polypharmacy over time.

http://fampra.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/3/261.full.pdf+html

7.  Clinical pharmacists reduce polypharmacy

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6TDC-3Y0RP97-6D-1&_cdi=5195&_user=456938&_pii=S0002934397895198&_origin=gateway&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F1996&_sk=998999995&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlb-zSkWA&md5=b28b329071bf665abc4d7d41871cd033&ie=/sdarticle.pdf


Book Review

Mormons and Prenatal Diagnoses of Genetic Disorders

Note: Since I will not be going to Ghana on a field study, as was my original plan, I have been developing a project that could be carried out in Utah. I have already been exposed to the culture of Utah since I am a resident here and chose this book to read and review since it concerned the culture in Utah, but was about a topic that I had not looked into before.

                This book covered a very interesting topic that has arisen with the advent of recent biomedical advancements. Throughout history infants have been born with various genetic diseases like downs syndrome. Many of these conditions are very severe and will inevitably lead to a painful life cut short by an early death. This has been accepted and dealt with as an unfortunate but unavoidable part of human existence. There have, however, been advances in biomedical technology that allow health care providers to extract the DNA of fetuses early in their development. By analyzing this DNA they can check for genetic diseases, diagnose the disease if one is present, and advise the parents of the child-to-be. Diagnosing a severe genetic disease before the infant has developed past the first trimester of pregnancy gives the mother the knowledge she needs to decide if she would like to keep the child and carry it to term or abort the pregnancy. This has been a hotly debated ethical issue in the public realm and has particular implications for the LDS community.

                While the LDS church condemns abortion in most cases, exceptional circumstances are made when the circumstances include the chance of physical harm to the mother or if the pregnancy is the result of rape. Even in these circumstances the decision is to be made by inspiration from the Lord. While the church does not excommunicate those who perform abortions of possibly defective babies, prophets have made statements in opposition to it. President Kimball stated that “no one but the Lord himself has the right to decide if a baby should or should not be permitted to live . . . all human life is sacred.”

                Trying to look at this from an outsiders perspective, I find this a very interesting argument. Mormons believe so strongly that God alone has the right to take life that they are willing to put themselves in very difficult positions. For example, they choose to subject themselves to tragedy when the child dies just following birth, or years and years of hardship from a severely handicapped child that lives, and almost certainly significant financial burden. Mormons believe that the technology enabling doctors to diagnose and abort fetuses is not evil itself, but that it should only be used in special circumstances. Mormons in general seem to accept advancements in technology, but in this case do not accept all uses of that technology.

                This information is useful for my field study experience because I am dealing with polypharmacy, a phenomena that is the result of advances in medicine. Leaders of the church have not come out with any statements against using medications. I know there are some churches that would be against that. The belief system of Mormons affects their incidence of polypharmacy in the area I will be studying.

Source Document Analysis Worksheets (2)

Source Document Analysis Worksheet

Ahorlu, Collins; Dunyo, Samuel; Afari, Edwin; Koram, Kwadwo; Nkrumah, Francis				May 1997
Author’s name (last, first)				Publication date
Malaria-related beliefs and behavior in southern Ghana: implications for treatment, prevention and control
Title
Tropical Medicine and International Health		Volume 2, No. 5, pp 488-499
Book series OR Journal		Location and publisher OR volume, issue, pages

1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?

By exploring two ecological zones in southern Ghana, the researchers found that precautionary measures against malaria such as bed net usage were not common while the use of insecticide sprays as well as burning herbs and natural remedies was common. There is also a need for a strong educational component to be incorporated into the Malaria Action Plan to correct misconceptions about malaria transmission.

2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?

The authors have conducted research in two communities and use their results as support of their main argument. They also cite many other authors and researchers when drawing conclusions at the end of their article. The organization is very clear since the introductory, background, methods, results and discussion sections are given in that order respectively.

3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?

The audience is quite broad since the researchers give enough introductory information to educate the reader about malaria. The authors assume the reader has a basic knowledge of epidemiological and sociological research methods, but most other specifics are explained.

4. Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)?  In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?

Two communities were studied, six focus groups were selected in each community, eight to ten participants in each focus group. The participants were selected by a stratified sample including parents of different ages, sexes and educational backgrounds. Focus group discussions were held in each group to explore the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices of the community in regards to malaria.

A household survey of parents with children age 1-9 years was conducted using a personal interview questionnaire. This sample group was randomly selected from the community and was 50% of the households on a housing list of the community.

A total of 125 children aged 1-9 were selected from the households that were surveyed and were followed up on once a week for three months to check for symptoms of malaria/fever. In depth interviews were conducted with the caretakers of children identified with a history of malaria/fevers.

In my opinion these methods were appropriate. Their sample sizes seemed large enough to represent the population. All samples were either random or stratified. The only questionable method was the diagnosis of malaria since the article states that the “parasitological aspects of the home diagnosis of malaria will be published elsewhere.”

5. To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).

Many scientific journals were referred to such as the African Journal of Health Sciences and the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The authors draw conclusions at the end of their article about the possible solutions to problems found in the communities awareness and prevention of malaria. Most of the sources referred to have to do with the effectiveness of these solutions as have been documented by other researchers. Also, other similar studies were referred to from other locations.

6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different? 

I have found this article to have a lot of connections to my project. The researchers evaluated perceptions of malaria treatment, prevention and control and implied possible solutions for two communities in southern Ghana. I want to propose precautionary measures to prevent infant mortality due to malaria in a Wiamoase, but will have to follow their framework of evaluating perceptions of malaria in the community first. My project is new and different because it is in a different ecological and sociological zone.

Source Document Analysis Worksheet

Adongo, Philip; Kirkwood, Betty; Kendall, Carl				April 2005
Author’s name (last, first)				Publication date
How local community knowledge about malaria affects insecticide-treated net use in northern Ghana
Title
Tropical Medicine and International Health		Volume 10, No. 4, pp 366-378
Book series OR Journal		Location and publisher OR volume, issue, pages

1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?

Through a variety of interviewing techniques it was found that biomedical knowledge of malaria was limited in communities regarding malaria prevention through bednets although large scale trials of bednet usage have reduced child mortality.

2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?

The evidence provided by the author is in the form of coded data from interviews and surveys from a sample group. Since the thesis

3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?

The authors assume their audience knows very little of the problem they are addressing which is the understanding of communities regarding bednet usage to prevent malaria. It is assumed that the audience has a basic understanding of epidemiology and sociological research methods.

4. Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)?  In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?

Two Districts of the Upper East Region, Ghana, were studied in two phases. The first phase was an anthropological assessment of the community to investigate local household practices and their consequences for health. This phase gathered qualitative data from focus group discussions including bednet users, former users and non-users. This phase also included in depth interviews with mothers of children younger than five year, couples, healers and bednet vendors. Interviews were transcribed and entered into a database where it was sorted and searched for recurring keywords within major themes. The second phase consisted of a structured survey to collect information of the community’s knowledge of malaria and related illnesses.

5. To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).

Many scientific journals were referred to such as Journal of Biosocial Science and Social Science and Medicine. These sources are mainly used to validate claims made by the researchers in regards to general public understanding of malaria symptoms and bednet usage among others.

6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different? 

This article is connected to my research project because they are investigating the perceptions of communities in regards to a method of malaria prevention, bednet usage. My research project will investigate possible precautionary methods (which could include bednet usage) to prevent malaria in the community of Wiamoase.