Cardiovascular Health and Death

Cardiovascular Health and Death

Delimitation and limitation of the study

The study was based on Massachusetts firefighters and had several limitations and delimitations.

Limitations

One, the external validity of the study is limited to firefighters from Massachusetts because their working condition, as well as the weather, is similar. It is also limited to firefighters who have had a cardiac attack while on duty; therefore, the result of the study cannot be generalized to other professions who do not meet the requirement. Moreover, the study will rely on PFFM to provide us with info whenever a cardiac incident occurs while at work. Besides, it will also depend upon the cooperation of respondents to answer my questionnaires, where I will ask about them their medical history, their current BMI, blood pressure, and resting heart rate.

Two, the internal validity of this study may be weak because of confounding factors that impact individual health behaviors that this descriptive study cannot control. For instance, if the firefighter has not had a yearly physical in the last year, they would not be useful in this research project. Moreover, the study will be limited to the medical history of participants, whereby it will consider the individual who has had arrhythmias, hypertension, CHF, or hyperlipidemia as potential cardiac victims.

Lastly, since the respondents will be informed that the study is entirely voluntary, and there is no compensation, there is a high chance of non-response bias. Besides, those who decide to respond may differ from the targeted population of Massachusetts firefighters.

Delimitation

The study had two categories of delimitation, the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The inclusion categories relate to factors that determine whether participants would be included in the study. In contrast, the exclusion category refers to factors that exclude participants from being part of the study. The inclusion criteria that were applied to the study included; participants had to be from Massachusetts state. Participants had to be an individual who has had a cardiovascular event while on duty. The study may consist of a medical examiner report of a firefighter who died but was qualified for the research at the time of death and lastly since cardiac events that happen while on duty are not that frequent, the study will focus on data collected within five years (Leedy & Ormord, 2017).

On the other hand, the exclusion criteria that were applied to the study included; firefighters who had not approved consent, participants who have not had a cardiac event while on duty, participants who worked in short-time, or were volunteer firefighters.

Reference

Leedy, P., & Ormrod, J. (2017). Research design and methodology.

Sen, S., Palmieri, T., & Greenhalgh, D. (2016). Cardiac fatalities in firefighters: an analysis of the US Fire Administration Database. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 37(3), 191-195.