A study was done looking at communication between adolescents with asthma and their health care provider. Forty-six providers from four pediatric practices in
North Carolina agreed to participate in the study. Two clinics were in rural areas and two were in suburban areas of North Carolina. Adolescent patients who
agreed to participate were randomized, along with their caregiver, into either the intervention group or the usual care group. The intervention group watched a
video on an iPad and then completed an asthma question prompt list before their visits. All visits were audiotape recorded. A secondary analysis of transcripts
from these medical visits of adolescents, ages 11-17 years, discovered that 44% (81 out of 185) of the adolescents and/or their providers from the intervention
group discussed tobacco smoking in a visit versus 32% (56 out of 174) in the control group.
From these results we can compute 3 different 95% confidence intervals using the sample proportions (p) from this study.
a) For estimate, pi = 0.44, 95% CI: (0.37, 0.51)
b) For estimate, pc = 0.32, 95% CI: (0.25, 0.39)
c) For estimate, pi – pc = 0.44 -0.32 = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.22)
Prompt: After reading the short paper scenario and using the information provided, complete the steps below.
Part I
1. Describe the population that this sample was selected from.
2. Write out the research question that can be answered by the confidence interval (CI) in (a).
3. Describe in words the population parameter that is being estimated by the confidence interval in (a).
4. What is the margin of error for the confidence interval in (a)?
5. Interpret the CI in (a) using your own words. What answer is it giving us in regard to the research question?
Part II
1. Write out the research question that can be answered by the confidence interval in (c).
2. Describe in words the population parameter that is being estimated by the confidence interval in (c).
3. What is the margin of error for the confidence interval in (c)?
4. Interpret the confidence
: interval in (c) using your own words. What answer is it giving us in regard to the research question?
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction: In this scenario, a study was conducted to observe the communication between adolescents with asthma and their healthcare providers. The study involved randomized intervention and control groups to evaluate the impact of watching a video and completing a question prompt list before visits on discussing tobacco smoking during the visit.
Part I
1. The sample was selected from four pediatric practices in North Carolina where 46 healthcare providers agreed to participate in the study. The study included adolescent patients between 11-17 years of age who agreed to participate and were randomized with their caregivers into either the intervention or the usual care group.
2. The research question that can be answered by the confidence interval in (a) is: what proportion of adolescents and their healthcare providers in the intervention group discussed tobacco smoking during their visit?
3. The population parameter estimated by the confidence interval in (a) is the true proportion of all adolescents and their healthcare providers who would discuss tobacco smoking in a visit after watching a video and completing an asthma question prompt list.
4. The margin of error for the confidence interval in (a) is 0.07 or 7%.
5. The confidence interval in (a) suggests that with 95% confidence, the proportion of adolescents and their healthcare providers in the intervention group who discussed tobacco smoking during their visit is between 0.37 and 0.51. This means that the intervention group is 95% likely to contain the true proportion, and from the results, there is evidence that the intervention group is more likely to discuss tobacco smoking during the visit.
Part II
1. The research question that can be answered by the confidence interval in (c) is: what is the difference in the proportion of discussions on tobacco smoking between the intervention and usual care groups?
2. The population parameter being estimated by the confidence interval in (c) is the true difference in proportion of all adolescent patients and their healthcare providers who discuss tobacco smoking between those who watched the video and completed prompt list and those who did not.
3. The margin of error for the confidence interval in (c) is 0.10 or 10%.
4. The confidence interval in (c) suggests that with 95% confidence, the difference in the proportion of discussions on tobacco smoking between the intervention and usual care groups is between 0.02 and 0.22. This means that the intervention group is 95% likely to have a true difference in proportion, which is at least 2% higher than the usual care group, and this suggests that the video and prompt list intervention has a positive impact on discussing tobacco smoking between adolescents and their healthcare providers.
