AARC Congress 2022

Establishing a scientific basis is important for the longevity of the profession. This presentation presents the reasons that research is important to optimize patient outcomes and establish the scientific basis for the profession.

Projects often get off track and having a formalized process can help provide guidance. This presentation describes how to implement a process to ensure quality research is performed by your team. Also included is a description of using local resources to make the program successful.

The multi-center randomized controlled trial is the crème de la crème of clinical research. This presentation provides an overview of the randomized controlled trial and describes the advantages and disadvantages of this research design. Also included are advantages and disadvantages of parallel designs versus crossover designs. The CONSORT recommendations for reporting randomized trials are introduced.

This presentation compares observational studies to randomized controlled trials. Prospective and retrospective study designs are compared. Advantages and disadvantages of this study design are discussed. Also included are before and after studies (historical controls) that are commonly used to improve the quality of care. The STROBE guidelines for reporting observational studies are introduced.

Every respiratory care department is required to conduct quality assurance projects. Ideally, these should use research principles. This presentation provides practical tips for conducting quality assurance research that can be published. Also included are registry/database studies. The SQUIRE guidelines for reporting quality assurance studies are introduced.

Surveys are performed to assess a group of respondents and provide insights into a topic of interest. Accepted principles are necessary to perform survey research well. This presentation addresses issues such as designing the survey instrument, reaching the targeted population with the survey, assessing the validity and reliability of the survey instrument, improving response rates, and analyzing the responses.

Respiratory care practice is heavily based on technology. This presentation addresses issues related to performing bench research such as determining a realistic model, validating the model, and collecting and analyzing data. Suggestions to perform high quality bench studies will be provided in areas such as mechanical ventilation and aerosol therapy.

Reviews are valued by readers, given that they summarize what is known about a clinical topic. They can be narrative reviews or systematic reviews. A systematic review with a quantitative review of the literature is a meta-analysis. Systematic reviews should follow the PRISMA guidelines and be registered with PROSPERO. This presentation covers the important elements of narrative reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis.

An early step in a research study is framing the hypothesis and writing the study question. This presentation explains how to write a question for a study or review. The elements of a PICO question will be covered.

One of the first steps in a research project is a search of the literature to determine what is already known about the subject. The skills to conduct a literature search are also important for clinical practice. This presentation covers the skills necessary to conduct a literature search and when the skills of a librarian are needed to assist with the search.

Any research that enrolls human subjects requires review by the local IRB or ethics committee, whether it is a prospective study, retrospective study, quality improvement study, or survey. Some studies require registration with clinical trials.gov. This presentation covers the topics of IRB approval and registration of studies. Practical tips are provided to navigate the IRB approval process.

A challenge of research is data integrity and database management. This presentation covers regulations and software used to securely store data. Data management challenges associated with each type of research will be discussed.

Faculty should involve students in the research process. At a minimum this involves teaching students how to critically read published research papers. But beyond that, faculty can encourage students to participate in original research and submit their work to the Open Forum or as a full manuscript. This presentation provides practical tips to accomplish this.

Most professional societies include abstract presentations as part of their annual meetings. For the AARC, this is the Open Forum. Abstracts are unique in that they communicate information in a manner that is limited to a specific word count, which might be supplemented with 1 or 2 figures or tables. This presentation will provide practical tips for preparing an abstract likely to be accepted for presentation at the Open Forum, including common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Posters are used to communicate research findings at a scientific meeting. They are a visual display of the important research findings from an abstract. This presentation will provide tips for how to best prepare a research poster, including common mistakes and how to avoid them. This presentation also includes tips on how to present the abstract in 2 minutes and then respond to questions from the audience.

Many presenters at the Open Forum do not follow up their abstract with a full manuscript. This presentation will review the primary reasons and strategies to overcome these barriers.

The style of a research paper is similar, whether the paper is published in Respiratory Care or another journal. This is important to appreciate for authors and readers. This presentation describes the structure of a research paper.

Few of us have more than cursory training in biostatistics. This presentation covers important principles of statistics that should be understood by those conducting research and those who read published research papers. This will cover not only basic statistical principles, but also how research findings are displayed in figures.

The methods section of a research paper provides the information by which a study's validity is judged. It includes a description of how the study was done and the rationale for why specific experimental procedures were chosen. This presentation addresses how a good Methods section is written.

The Discussion section of a research paper explains the meaning of the results. There are components that should be included and other things that should be avoided. The important elements of a Discussion section in a research paper are covered.

Investigators are often challenged to find funding to support their research. Funding may be needed to pay salaries for the investigators, to purchase supplies, and perhaps to compensate subjects. This presentation explores various sources of funding including the employer, foundations, the government, and industry. Because respiratory care is very technology oriented, industry is often a source of funding. This presentation addresses issues that arise with industry-funded research and how to avoid conflicts of interest.

The value of diversity in research has become increasingly appreciated. Important is diversity as it relates to sex, ethnicity, professional discipline, and others. This presentation addresses strategies to increase diversity in research.

Every journal, including Respiratory Care, publishes guidelines for authors to follow when submitting a research paper. This presentation covers common mistakes made by authors when submitting their papers to Respiratory Care.

Peer review is an essential part of the publication process. This presentation covers the peer review process and how to respond to the concerns of the peer reviewers when revising your manuscript. Also included are tips on how to be a good peer reviewer when evaluating the work of others.