Aging Research - Methodological Issues, 2015

This book reviews classical epidemiological and clinical research studies, with a focus on aging. Chapters cover methodological topics like the scientific method, ethics, and the consequences of certain exclusion criteria and the work includes a look at clinical concepts like multi morbidity, frailty and functionality. The authors reveal the issues and challenges for researchers of age and aging, and also consider the translation of scientific knowledge, from basic to clinical and from clinical to public policies of social and health care.  

The focus on aging is what gives this book its valuable perspective on research methodology. All authors have considerable experience in aging, geriatrics or gerontology and each chapter includes both a theoretical framework and practical examples of studies in aging. Readers will discover study designs that are reviewed for basic structure, main flaws and advantages and are analyzed for specific conditions and variables regarding aging.

This text is suited to both health care professionals caring for older adults and researchers who are new to research in aging. It is relevant across the disciplines, including medicine, psychology, social sciences and dentistry and it supports learning with graphs and figures.

PREFACE 

INTRODUCTION
Mario Ulises Pérez-Zepeda, Carmen García-Peña, Victoria E. Arango-Lopera and Luis Miguel Gutiérrez-Robledo 

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Rubén Fossion and Leonardo Zapata-Fonseca 

BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Eunice Lopez-Muñoz 

DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES
Mario Ulises Pérez-Zepeda and Jocabed Rocha-Balcázar

QUALITATIVE STUDIES
Teresa Juárez-Cedillo, Edgar Jarillo-Soto, Sergio Sánchez-García   and Carmen García-Peña 

CASE-CONTROL STUDIES
Sergio Sánchez-García, Érika Heredia-Ponce, Pablo Cruz-Hervert, Ángel Cárdenas-Bahena, Laura Bárbara Velázquez-Olmedo and Carmen García-Peña 

LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
Carmen García-Peña, Claudia Espinel-Bermúdez, Laura del Pilar Torres-Arreola, Mario Ulises Pérez-Zepeda and Luis Miguel Gutiérrez-Robledo 

CLINICAL TRIALS
Mario Ulises Pérez-Zepeda, Carmen García-Peña, Victoria E. Arango-Lopera, Elisa Zengarini and Luis Miguel Gutiérrez-Robledo

MIXED-METHODS STUDIES
Elías Varga-Amezcua 

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META ANALYSIS
Miguel Ángel Villasís-Keever and Mario Enrique Rendón-Macías

TECHNOLOGY AND AGING
Jesús Favela and Luis A. Castro 

TRANSLATION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
Elizabeth Caro-López

INDEX

Reviews classical epidemiological and clinical research focusing on aging

Presents refreshing ideas and concepts in health research

Supports research on one of the great world challenges, of aging population