The Quantitative Study by Turid Moller and Olav Linaker

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Article Critique In the quantitative study by Turid Moller and Olav Linaker (2010), they examined and compared records of information given by psychotic patients concerning their alcohol and drug problems. In their study, the research question is "Do psychotic patients under-assess themselves during early clinical interventions and what are the effects of under-assessment on their treatment outcomes?" The null hypothesis is that failing to diagnose and account for substance abuse will not lead to high rates of relapse and hospital readmissions. Therefore, the alternate hypothesis is that failing to diagnose substance abuse will lead to high rates of relapse and hospital readmission. First, the study focused on evaluating the ‘psychometric adequacy' of self-reports and staff-reports concerning alcohol and drug problems in patients with severe mental conditions (Moller and Linaker, 2010). Second, the study aimed at finding an answer to whether psychotic patients provide inadequate assessments on their alcohol and drug abuse problems. Methods The collection of data was done through random sampling of patients from Trondheim city. The data was collected from September to October 2001 from a total of 48 participants, 22 and 26 outpatients and inpatients respectively (Moller and Linaker, 2010). The sample population provided primary data by filling questionnaires: the Short Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (SMAST-13) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-20). Similarly, nurses collected secondary data on the staff-report tools namely Alcohol Use Scale (AUS) and Drug Use Scale (DUS). In the study, SMAST-13 and DAST-20 tools were used because of simplicity and accuracy in predicting substance use disorders. Simplicity ensures that participan... ... middle of paper ... ...ength to the use of tested and reliable clinical tools that show a high degree of consistency and accuracy. However, the number of participants is small and may not be a true representation of the sample population for psychotic patients. For example, when 48 people are compared to the millions of people suffering from psychotic conditions, it does not have a practical significance. With respect to weaknesses, the generalizability of the results is limited because the sample population is not an accurate representation of the whole population of psychotic patients (Francis, 2008). For example, people from other cities should have been selected. Therefore, future research should conduct similar studies in different cities across the world so that results can be compared. Complete comparison with results from other cities will facilitate generalization of results.

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