PO

Abstract
The objective of this proposal was to highlight the role of dietary habits in alleviating or aggravating the severity of ovarian cancer with CA-125 as the biomarker. Is apparent that in as much as ovarian cancer is the most uncommon among the cancers, its risk is still significant especially owing to the fact that diagnosis and treatment are still not accurate. Several studies highlighted in the paper indicated that dietary habits have got some form of correlation with the risk of ovarian cancer. One such relation was with the mineral flavonoids which were seen to reduce the risk and severity of ovarian cancer. The study relied on behavioral change theories especially the theory of reasoned action to explain dietary habits perceived effect on ovarian cancer. Therefore, the research question for this study was thus: what at are the effects of dietary habits on the prevalence and severity of ovarian cancer? Washington DC formed the study area with a population of 84 women. Data was collected through various methods such as interviews and from clinic databases in the preliminary stages of the study followed by diary recordings, questionnaires during the course of the study. Data analysis was carried out with the help of a data expert and it was found that dietary habits had an effect on ovarian cancer (An abstract indicates what was done. This action cannot be cited).
Sample and Sample Size
This study seeks to determine the effects of dietary habits among females with ovarian cancer. In this sense, the basic definition for the sample size would be that the study would only incorporate subjects whom it has been established that they suffer from or are positive of ovarian cancer. Since one variable of the study is dietary habits, it will be important that the subjects be women who have ovarian cancer but at low risk level so much so that they have not been subjected to a strict diet, whatsoever by treatment providers. In other words, the population must be of women who are suffering from ovarian cancer but are still observing their normal, self-determined diets.
The population of the study will come from women currently residence of the Washington, DC area and suffer from ovarian cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control, per year, the incidence ovarian cancer in Washington was between 12.7 and 15.4 by the year 2008. This rate is per every 100,000. Washington has an estimated population of 618,000 people and 58.2% (359,676) of these are females. This approximately means that between 76 and 92 females contract ovarian cancer in Washington each year. This gives an average of 84 incidences per year. This forms the population of the study since all the females have the characteristics required in the study.
Eligibility requirements for this study shall not be strict since dietary habits are present in all people of reasonable age. The main requirement for this study is that the subject should have contracted ovarian cancer in not less than a year ago and should be maintaining their normal dietary habits (Not observing a strict diet as prescribed by a health specialist). Another important criterion in terms of eligibility is that the subjects should not be having any other ovarian medical conditions such as fibroids since this may affect the accuracy of the study. In choosing the subjects that will participate in the study, convenience sampling will be used in order to save mostly on cost and time. It is also an appropriate technique since there is no guarantee of availability or access to all the patients that would be required as subjects in the study. In addition, this research is very specific to ovarian cancer and therefore has precise characteristics. It cannot be compared to a study that analyzes a general population despite differing traits. To this end, the sample is 84 females suffering from ovarian cancer but still observing their normal dietary habits. The sample size chosen will thus consist of 40 subjects who will represent the entire population in Washington DC. (This is a value that was calculated by the researcher and not obtained from a particular source. It therefore cannot be cited).
Great importance will be placed on the recruitment plan for these subjects because care needs to be taken to select the most representative sample and though through convenience sampling, the sample should be as random as possible. To ease the selection process, two cancer clinics will be chosen from which the subjects will be selected. This will involve seeking permission from the clinic managers and collaborating closely with the clinicians. The oncologists will be largely involved in meeting the needs of the study in terms of criteria. The clinicians will also be asked to serve the purpose of assuring the subjects about the study to dispel any worries. Selecting the subjects from the cancer clinics will also be advantageous in the sense that information about the subjects will be easily available upon formal request and permission.
Research Design
This study attempts to investigate the relationship between ovarian cancer and dietary habits. There are two independent variables as seen before. These are presumed positive dietary habits and negative dietary habits. Therefore, the main aim here is to find correlation between these independent variable and ovarian cancer levels as the dependent variable. Hypothetically, it is expected that poor or unhealthy dietary habits will lead to the intensification of the ovarian cancer while proper or healthy dietary habits will lead to alleviated levels of ovarian cancer. This study also employs the use of one set of subjects with more than one variable investigating each subject. The explained criteria thus meet the standards for a Correlational or Prospective research design. Automatically, the study becomes a correlational research.
This research study is also significant enough to warrant the use of a comparison group. A comparison group will go a long way in strengthening the study. It is important that the comparison group chosen will portray the same characteristics as the main study group. For this study, this means that the comparison group should be external patients of ovarian cancer and who are maintaining their normal day-to-day diets. However, the process of determining and or obtaining a comparison group may turn out to be even costlier to the research. This necessitates the use of an alternative means of finding the comparison group. One practical and efficient way that this study will use will be to use the subject that will drop out of the study as the comparison group. If this strategy seems impossible, then it also becomes apparent that out of the study population, only a sample is chosen as subjects. The remaining elements of the population can thus form a proper comparison group.
This research will take into account measures to control or eliminate any significant confounding variables. Such measures will include but not limited to exercising strict controls and randomizing the subjects as much as possible. In fact, in this study, the subjects will not be limited to say, certain age gap nor will they be limited to a certain race or background of sorts. However, despite this, some of the most likely intervening variables are such as Age factor, historical health background, and psychological disposition. In terms of age factor, there is likelihood that younger women have a more diverse diet than elderly ones. Historical health background may show that some women have had weaker immune systems for long periods and are more susceptible to intensified ovarian cancer; psychological disposition may be in the sense that those women who are suffering from mental stress or depression due to their illness may be more susceptible to severe ovarian cancer levels.
This study will be a collaborative effort between the researchers and chosen clinicians who work in cancer treatment centers. To this end, there will be a necessity to apply blinding techniques on the clinicians for the sake of accuracy and preventing bias. The choice to blind the clinicians is pegged on the fact that they may be inclined to act with bias in order to give their clinics a good reputation for cancer treatment. In addition, the personal relationships between the clinicians and their patients may invalidate the study. (How do you apply this blinding technique? Give more detail about this). I think you should apply the Not Blinding technique in this study because the participant know what they will their intake of flavonoids rich diet?. (cite, references here)? (Please note that here, I mentioned that the blinding will be done on the clinicians and not the SUBJECTS as you have stated. It will be important to do blinding on the clinicians so that they don’t influence the outcome of the research.)
Operational Definitions
Tools
A clinician is understood as a medical expert or doctor who has direct contact with his or her patients and has fully responsibility for them. Therefore, this expert is directly involved with the patients and not in non-direct field such as laboratory work. In this study, clinicians will be used to assist the study in say, monitoring the patients and carrying out the necessary tests such as the CA-125 test. CA 125 is a type of protein that is used to detect the presence of cancerous cells in the ovaries. CA125 has remained a major instrument for ovarian cancer diagnosis (Andrew 2012). However, C125 has been proven not to produce accurate results hence the search for more precise tests is still in progress. Careful utilization of new diagnostic instruments may assist in managing preoperative stages in females with ovarian cancer. C125 can be tracked in tissues known as epithelial. In addition to the epithelial tissue, C125 can also be tracked in mesothelial, muuerian and eritoneum, endocervix and endometrium cells. Ovaries in normal condition do not show the presence of CA125. High levels of CA125 are known to be an indication of the existence of ovarian cancer in females and vice versa. CA125 is therefore a tool that will be used to measure the severity of ovarian cancer in this study. Moreover, Food frequency questionnaires have been used to collect the data based on weekly diets. Participants have been requested to fill a food frequency questionnaire that contains a variety of items. The food frequency questionnaire includes particular foods and regularity of eating. This study has revealed a strong association that ascertains dietary habits and a decrease in the possibility of ovarian risks (Bandera, Kushi & Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 2009).
Food Frequency Questionnaire
Name of intervieweeDate of interviewFill the blanks and mark where appropriateWhat fruits do you consume on a weekly basis?What do your breakfast, lunch and dinner encompass?What is your main source of vitamin?What time do you take lunch and supper?LunchSupperWhich kind of fruits do you prefer eating?Does your meal encompass fruits and vegetables?
Data Collection Procedures
This study shall endeavor to ensure that all data is collected using appropriate means and procedures and that the data is dependable, relevant, valid, and reliable. The use of a data analysis expert shall be employed prior to the process of collecting data in order to boost the quality of the research. This study relies on two independent variables and one dependent variable on which data shall be collected. Positive and Negative dietary habits form the independent variables while levels of ovarian cancer forms the dependent variable.
For the dependent variable (ovarian cancer), data will be collected it three phases. The first phase will include the collection of initial data on the subjects’ medical background. This is important in determining such factors as the severity of the ovarian cancer (cancer levels) in each subject, determining on-going dietary habits, and any diet treatments being administered. In other words, this phase is important in determining the eligibility of the subjects. This process shall not involve any major use of instruments but shall rather be a process of database mining. As stated earlier, this study shall include a collaborative effort between the researcher and clinicians in the chosen cancer clinics. To this end extensive permission from the subjects (patients), the clinics administrations, the local authorities, and relevant medical bodies shall be sought before accessing any patient data. This will be an effort to keep in line with legislation concerning patient confidentiality. The data will thus be collected by means of minor interviews with the doctors and other caregivers and majorly from records in the hospitals database. Most hospitals have electronic data management systems so that these are what will be accessed to get the data. With permission and the help of the officer in charge, data will be accessed via a computer fed with the officer’s password. Only relevant data will be taken and possibly printed out; personal patient data shall not be accessed with the supervision of the officer in charge.
The second phase in the collection of data about ovarian cancer shall involve a long-term process of constantly collecting data about the patients’ ovarian cancer levels and dietary habits over a specific period of time in which change from dietary habits is expected. The main method of data collection shall begin by carrying out interviews with the subjects to determine their daily dietary habits. This shall help in knowing which subjects are observing at least an acceptably healthy diet and which ones are not. The subjects shall then be given diaries in which they shall be expected to record their diet choices until the nex...