Women With Diabetes: Birth Control Pills, Essay Example

My dissertation topic is related to women with diabetes who take birth control pills. Indeed, although birth control pills are generally safe for women to take, their use is limited to women younger than 35 years who do not smoke and no evidence of hypertension, nephropathy, retinopathy, or other vascular disease. Restricted use of contraception pills for women with diabetes may be warranted. Indeed, the use of oral contraceptives can invite macroalbuminuria in women with diabetes, which can lead to diabetic nephropathy and retinopayth (Ahmed, 2004).

Due to the potential danger involved in assigning birth control pills in a randomized clinical control trial, the study design is not viable for my dissertation. Indeed, the possibility of causing (further) harm to diabetic women through birth control pills would not be approved by any IRB. Thus, the quasi-experimental study design would be the optimal choice for my dissertation. The main data collection method would involve gathering information from women who have diabetes and also taken birth control. This data could be collected through a number of ways including survey, previous clinical trials, or through population data sets.

The quasi-experimental design has a number of advantages. First, the design does not cause medical harm or impose ethical challenges for the researchers. The analysis of existing secondary data is a safe way to conduct research. Second, the study design is much cheaper than other study designs, including experimental or even a case control study. The main expense will include the gathering and analysis of data on the topic. Lastly, the study also allows for some level of inference regarding the relationship between birth control pills and diabetes among women.

At the same time, there are a number of disadvantages. The main disadvantage is confounding. Secondary data studies make it difficult to understand the relationship between the exposure (birth control pills) and the outcome, which includes a number of different conditions including cardiovascular, kidney, and renal disease. Second, it may be difficult to get data on the subset of the population (African-American women) already identified. The target group may need to change in order to get a sample size large enough for analysis.

Issues of reliability and validity will also play a key role in the research. Reliability refers to the ability of an instrument to get the same reading on a constant basis. In the context of this research question, there may be a number of threats to the reliability of the findings . Indeed, diabetes patients, and other patients with a number of comorbid conditions, may give different readings at different points in time. As a result, the reliability of the data for a population of women may not be high. As a result, the key in minimizing reliability issues would be to find a relatively homogeneous population.

Validity refers to the ability of the instrument to measure what it intends to measure. In the case of this research question, the validity of the instrument would need to measure the relationship between birth control pills and the outcome. The key issue here would be confounding of other potential factors that also contribute to the outcome. In order to minimize problems of validity, the instrument chosen would have to be robust for the selected sub-population. At the same time, there would need to be further research to make sure the instrument can be used.

References

Ahmed, N. Advanced glycation endproducts-role in pathology of diabetic complications. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 67(1), 3-21.

Kimberlin, C.K & Winsterstein, G.W. (2008). Validity of measurement instruments used in research. American Journal of Health Systems Pharm, 65 (1). 1276-1284.