Critical Appraisal of a Research Report

CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF A RESEARCH REPORT ON JUVENILE ARTHRITIS

From an epidemiological perspective, the title of the research report on juvenile arthritis is inappropriate. Rationale to this assertion can be provided by the ages of the research participants. Researchers who conducted this study stated “focus group interviews were conducted with youth aged 14-21 years and young adults aged 22-29 years” (Garwick, Horvath, Secor-Turner, Scal & Wells, 2011, p. 302). In contrast, adolescence stage ranges from 15 to 17 years of age (CDC, 2012).
Secondly, all the study participants did not fall within the ages affected by juvenile arthritis. It has been reported that juvenile arthritis occurs in children and adolescents who are aged below 18 years (Arthritis Foundation, 2013). Therefore, the most appropriate title for this report would be ‘Challenges Associated with Juvenile Arthritis.’      
Literature Review and Background to the Problem
An aesthetic analysis reveals that literature review for this report is inadequate. It does not include relevant research articles which addressed the issue in the past. Instead, it focuses on the challenges faced in health transitions regarding the transfer of healthcare services from adolescence stage to young adulthood. Besides, some of the articles used in the literature review were outdated. Articles which were published as late as 1992 were not appropriate for supporting a research study conducted in 2011. Ideally, literature review for clinical research studies should be based on research publications, which are not older than five years from the date of the new research study.
From an epidemiological perspective, literature review for this report should have included recent publications investigating on challenges experienced by teenagers and young adults who are living with juvenile arthritis. For instance, research articles, which discuss the impact of juvenile arthritis on social growth and quality of life, could be...