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Cross Sectional Studies

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With researching many articles regarding chronic pain management, the quantitative work yielded extraordinary results, leaving it at the top of the evidence hierarchy. This well generalizable, exploratory, non-experimental, retrospective cross-sectional paper states the problem is that “prescription drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States (Reimann, Welty, & Solomon, 2017 p.160).” The author then goes into further detail to explain how opioids have killed more than 28,000 people in 2014 which is backed by the reputable Centers for Disease Control. The purpose of the study was clearly and concisely noted to “gather [information] about the use of cannabis as a substitute for opioid and nonopioid based pain …show more content…

The longitudinal study would have collected data multiple times over an extended period, making this a stronger study. Throughout the materials and methods, which included an instrument and sampling subtitle, the researchers note that they “utilized a cross-sectional survey to gather data about the use of cannabis as a substitute for opioid and nonopioid based pain medication” (Reimann, Welty, & Solomon, 2017 p.161). The survey they used was a modified version of Tilray Observational Patient Survey (TOPS).This was a patient reported outcome questionnaire using Likert scale type questions. This survey which was available to 67,422 participants in California via email for a total of 7 weeks covered demographics, why cannabis was being used, how it was being used, if it was used as a substitute for opioids, experiences with cannabis as a substitute to opioids and the efficacy of cannabis as compared to other pharmaceuticals when looking at side effects and stigma. These are all adequate points that needed to be covered when researching a subject like cannabis versus …show more content…

California is one of very few states that allows for the use of medicinal marijuana, therefore the external validity is hard to state as being well generalizable to the country as a whole. Selection bias was avoided by using a specific group with similar characteristics. The group was medical cannabis patients and the participants were asked questions about if they used cannabis as a substitute for opioid or non opioids to create a subset. The internal validity is protected by using only patients who use cannabis. There is only one independent variable in the study, , which minimizes the risk for confounding variable. The construct validity minimized biases by asking questions on whether they favor cannabis over opioids or vice versa. The answers to the questions range from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” which allows for the study to have more accurate

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