RESEARCH CRITIQUE

Research Critique of
Adherence to Walking or Stretching, and Risk of Preeclampsia in Sedentary Pregnant Women
Ana H. Corona
Western University of Health Sciences
CGN 5306: Biostatistics and Epidemiology
August 1, 2009

Research Critique of “Adherence to Walking or Stretching, and Risk of Preeclampsia in Sedentary Pregnant Women”
Introduction
This paper is to critique a study of adherence to walking or stretching during pregnancy in high risk women who were sedentary and had previously experienced preeclampsia. The introduction of this article does give a sense of the importance of the problem area. This four-year study investigates the effects of walking or stretching on the incidence of preeclampsia and …show more content…

To measure participant’s fitness level at 17 weeks gestation, each participant had a cardiac stress test with the use of a treadmill twice a week. The Cornell Protocol and Metabolic System VO2000 were used to measure oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide and minutes ventilation. Both the Cornell Protocol and the Metabolic System were tested for validity and reliability with pregnant women before the study (Yeo 2009).
Data Analysis Differences between the walking and stretching groups were examined by using two sample t-tests. To compare proportion differences between the groups, Chi-square and Fishers exact tests were used. To analyze and compare continuous variables over time ANOVA was used. To compare group differences, gestation weeks, and their relations with adherence, resting HR and blood pressure changes during the interventions, random effects maximum likelihood (REML) regression was used (Yeo, 2009). The article included a total of two different tables and two figures that included graphs. Table 1 had demographic information for all participants. Observable results were that there were no stretchers younger than 20 years of age; over 80% of participants from both stretcher and walker group were obese; there were no first time expectant mothers that participated in the study. Table 2 described the baseline values and changes over time in HR, blood pressure and weight gain in walkers and stretchers. These two particular tables are easy to read and appear