Unwritten Rules of Talking to Doctors About Depression: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Purpose We hope to understand the consistency and contradiction about depression between physician and patient by evaluating the viewpoint of interaction between older patients and doctors.

Method We use a comprehensive hybrid approach design, ie hypothesis test and hypothesis generation. Patients aged over 65 who claim to be depressed are recruited from the primary care clinic and are interviewed at home at a semi-structured interview. We compared patients who were evaluated as depressed by doctors with those who were not (hypothesis test). Then create further hypotheses using the subject of recognition about the patient and the doctor

As a result, doctors believe that patients with depression are younger than those who are not. For standard measurements such as depressive symptoms and functional status patients were not differentiated. There are four themes in interviews about how doctors are involved with doctors: "My doctor just picked it up," "I am a good patient," "They are your heart and things "" "And they will give you only psychiatrists. "Thinking that a doctor" picks up "depression, people who think that they will have emotional content will be introduced to psychiatrists. The doctor evaluated the frustration. Patients who have discussed "good patients" are not evaluated as depression by doctors.

Conclusion The physician may inform the patient intentionally or unintentionally how to solve the emotional problem and influence how the patient perceives the dialogue with the doctor about the emotional problem.

The qualitative approach is part of the five analytical perspectives arising from the data intrusion approach. These methods can be used in combination with quantitative methods, academic or literature review, expert interviews, and computer simulations as part of a multi-method approach to data collection and analysis (called triangulation) . In order to help navigate the heterogeneous environment of qualitative research, we can further examine qualitative exploration of "means" and "direction". In particular, qualitative researchers often reject truths of natural science models, and it is assumed that the resulting research process and procedure (beyond the hypothesis test model) is more likely to investigate the meaning than behavior It may argue that generalization is preferred. I ideally like data in the form of naturally derived words and images (eg detailed observation rather than experiment)

Hybrid method research is a series of procedures, and when integrating qualitative and quantitative procedures it is necessary to use a sequence of procedures that better reflects the research problem than individual steps. Combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is based on the validity of the hybrid approach based on the method by which the researcher can respond to the question of the research included in the object of the evaluation (the reason why the research is in progress) We should inform the researcher that we should decide. - Newman, Ridenour Newman and DeMarco, 2003

We collect abundant and comprehensive data. The hybrid approach also reflects how individuals collect information naturally by integrating quantitative and qualitative data. For example, in a sports story, you can combine quantitative data (score or error number) with qualitative data (a focused description and image) to create a more complete story than either method. It increases the complexity of evaluation. Planning and implementation of mixed approach research is complicated. Careful planning to explain every aspect of the research, such as qualitative and quantitative parts (identical, embedded or parallel) of research samples, time (order of qualitative and quantitative parts), planning to integrate data Is required. Integrating qualitative and quantitative data into the analytical process is a difficult stage for many researchers.

Hybrid approach: Integrating quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis when studying patient-centered medical home models