Data Analysis Plan

The research proposal is set up to investigate the high number of military veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan against a healthcare sector that is not fully skilled in handling this demographic. The aim of the study seeks to establish the readiness, knowledge, and skills of the healthcare professionals in managing and treating military veterans with PTSD. The investigation is carried out to pave the way for further research to understand the impact of lack of treatment options to veterans with PTSD. This will further help establish recommendations focused on improving the state of the health sector to meet increasing patient demands of this particular demographic. In this case, the data analysis plan will provide a map of the planned analysis, which will assist in a systematic evaluation of the study outcomes.

Demographic Variable Analysis

In a study, demographic variables are characteristics attributed to the participants and used to describe the sample and determine if the sample represented are from the population of interest (Kaur,2013). In this case, the demographic variables that will be tested include gender, social-economic class, and the location of the veterans. When measuring these variables, the nominal scale will be used to measure the variables and will be categorized by gender, social, economic class, and location.

Study Variables Analysis

The study variables rely on the incidence of veterans with PTSD visiting community facilities, public or private hospitals, being screened by healthcare professionals, and getting started on treatment or referred for treatment. The cumulative incidence will be interpreted by the number of veterans who visited public hospitals and were screened for PTSD. The rate of the ability of the healthcare professionals to screen and treat veterans with PTSD is calculated from the number of veterans who visited the hospitals against the ones who were tested. The standardized incidence ratio will be used to compare the incidence of military veterans visiting hospitals and being screened. The SIR will be calculated by dividing the observed number of veterans who visited the clinics against the number of veterans who received treatment. The Standardized incidence ratio will also apply to the number of healthcare professionals able to attend to veterans with PTSD. In this case, the SIR will be calculated using the number of veterans who visited the hospitals against the number of healthcare professionals who were able to screen for PTSD.

References

Kaur, S. P. (2013). Variables in research. IJRRMS, 3(4), 36-38.