Evidence Based Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Evidence Based Practice - Essay Example This paper will apply EBP on the case of Betty. The Patient History Betty is 74 years old with history of hypertension since age 40. She has struggled to lose weight all her life and has given up on her attempts. She has remained active and fairly fit until the past two years. The approach to her hypertension is pharmacological, with metoprolol 100 mg bd, though in the past two years, her blood pressure increased to more than 160/90 in several instances. For the precedent year, she experienced repetitive chest and left arm pain with no evidence of ischaemia. She has had normal ECGs and troponin levels. She complains of increased shortness of breath and wheezing. These symptoms partially improved with inhaled beclomethasone diproprionate. She also has atrial fibrillation. Recent blood tests illustrate that her cholesterol is normal, but her fasting blood sugar is 6.1. Her full blood picture, urea, and electrolytes and liver function tests are normal. Betty also has a history of pernic ious anaemia and osteoarthritis. Betty is divorced and has a 51-year-old daughter who also has hypertension. Betty is independent and has lately felt somewhat depressed because of her inability to do everything she would like to do at home without feeling exhausted and short of breath. Answerable Questions The questions for this case are: What is the efficacy of various therapies in producing weight loss in a person who has failed previous attempts? What is the best therapy for the patient? These questions fall into the therapy category. The selected therapy approaches are: pharmacological approach, behavioural approach, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approach, and integrated approach. Surgical approaches are no longer included. Evidence Resources and Search Strategy The resources are academic medicine and nursing journals. EBSCO database is searched and related medicine/nursing journals are used. These keywords are used: â€Å"complementary and alternative medicine w eight loss,† â€Å"behavioural therapy weight loss,† and â€Å"pharmacological weight loss.† The results are fewer than 50 and are no longer limited to research or interventions, although research, trials, and nursing interventions were selected. There were no restrictions placed on language and years of publication although articles from 2004 onwards were selected. Examining the Evidence Evidence is examined through evaluating the research design and findings, as well as conclusions. Evidence is also compared with other independent and original researches done by other scholars and in other journals. Pharmacological Treatment Pharmacological treatments have been shown to be effective in reducing body weight. Neovius and Narbro (2008) conducted a systematic review on the cost-effectiveness of pharmacological anti-obesity treatments, specifically sibutramine, orlistat and rimonabant. Fourteen unique articles were used with exercise and diet used as comparators. Ma nufacturing companies funded these studies, except three. Findings showed that sibutramine, orlistat and rimonabant were cost-effective pharmacological treatments. Another study indicates the role of psychology in the efficacy of drug treatments. Elfhag, Finer, and Rossner (2008)