In addition, asthma might be identified in a population where emergency room admissions for acute attacks are higher than national averages. Evaluating the published literature. For the pharmacist, reading and using the published reslts from outcomes research studies is similar to using the resulte from any resaerch. The pharmacist must make a critical assessment of the research methods, limitations, potential for bias, and the validity of the study s conclusions. A literature review would also identify those study strategies that have been successful or unsuccessful for the treatment of asthma, and aid in designing the project.
Special training is required to design valid outcomes evaluation studies and analyze the findings.
Individuals who have expertise in this discipline may be used to assist with study design, analysis, and sensitivity testing. Understanding the population served by the health care system is essential to the design process and assures that the evaluation, its results, and the implementation of correction strategies are of value to the patient population and the system conducting the evaluation. Evaluation studies for the treatment of asthma could involve a detailed study of a group's demographics. In this case, a study for a population of pediatric patients would have a significantly different design and set of validation tools than a study for adult patients. For example, a follow-up questionnaire to pediatric patients must not only be statistically validated, but it must also be in appropriate language for a child, the parents, or guardians to understand in order to elicit accurate information.