You should write a brief report addressing the research hypothesis:
” Antibody responses against GLURP R2 and MSP1 block 2 hybrid are associated with reduced risk of clinical malaria”
Study design
525 children aged 6–60 months inclusive were enrolled in the study of which 354 children completed the follow-up. Participants were enrolled prior to the high malaria transmission season. During baseline
(enrolment) sampling, 5 ml (or about 1 ml for younger children) EDTA-anticoagulated venous blood was collected from each child and centrifuged. Plasma obtained was aliquoted and stored at − 20 °C for immunological analyses. Thick and thin film blood slides (TTBS) were obtained for microscopy diagnosis of malaria. The ensuing active case detection during the longitudinal follow-up was either twice weekly. The follow-up duration was 39 weeks. Axillary temperature was measured on each visit of a child by a trained field assistant and children with fever, defined as axillary temperature >37.5 °C or a history of fever reported within the last 24 h. Malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) was performed and children with positive results were referred to the nearest health centre for appropriate treatment. Children diagnosed with malaria were treated with artemisinin-based combination therapy, which was the standard treatment for malaria at the time of the study. Clinical malaria was defined as axillary temperature ≥ 37.5 °C (or history of fever in the last 24 h preceding the visit) and parasite density ≥ 5000/μl.
The data are contained in the file aia2_burkina_snapshot.dta in the folder dataset. The variables are:
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storage displayvalue
variable name typeformat label variable label
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id int %8.0g
startdate float %tdstart date of follow up
enddate5000 float %td Date event(clinical malaria at 5000 parasite density)
occurred
mal5000 float %9.0g clinical malaria defined as auxilary temperature>=37.5 or
fever [lus parasite de
tempfloat %9.0g follow up temperature
fever byte%8.0g follow up history of fever in last 24 hours reported by
mother
pdensitylong%12.0gfolow up parasite density
asg0float %9.0g
asgmfloat %9.0g
gr2g0 float %9.0g total IgG response to GLURP R2
gr2g1 float %9.0g IgG1 response to GLURP R2
gr2g2 float %9.0g IgG2 response to GLURP R2
gr2g3 float %9.0g IgG3 response to GLURP R2
gr2g4 float %9.0g IgG4 response to GLURP R2
gr2gm float %9.0g IgM response to GLURP R2
m1g0float %9.0g total IgG response to MSP1 Hybrid
m1g1float %9.0g IgG1 response to MSP1 Hybrid
m1g2float %9.0g IgG2 response to MSP1 Hybrid
m1g3float %9.0g IgG3 response to MSP1 Hybrid
m1g4float %9.0g IgG4 response to MSP1 Hybrid
m1gmfloat %9.0g IgGM response to MSP1 Hybrid
enrolldate long%dD_m_Y
basetempfloat %9.0g
basepd long%12.0g baseline parasite density
sex str1%1s
dob long%dD_m_Y
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Exercise
For this assessment exercise, you are asked to analyse the data and write a report. The style of your report should be appropriate for a medical journal, i.e. not too technical but precise. No Introduction section or review of the literature is required.
Guidelines on how to write your report
The report should be understandable to people who have not been closely involved in the fieldwork but are aware of the general aims of the study, and who need to know:
1) The aim of the study (Objectives)
2) how you analysed your data, including the strategy you used (Statistical analysis)…Hint: your choice of statistical technique needs to account for clustering within a children as this is a multiple failure data
3) the results you obtained, (Results) and
4) your interpretation of the results (Discussion).
Many of the principles involved in writing a good paper for a journal apply to this assignment but:
1) there should be more detail on the strategy you used to analyse the data than is found in most papers
2) you should not explain the background to the study or the methods of data collection
3) you should not cite or discuss relevant literature but you should consider the internal validity of the study (and hence your results).
4) You may assume that the techniques you have used (eg chi-square test, Mantel-Haenszel, logistic regression, confidence interval, likelihood ratio test) are understood by the reader and do not need explanation, but you do need to say which techniques you have used.
The following should be clear to the reader:
1) how you structured your analysis (what is the primary exposure, which variables are a priori or potential confounders/effect modifiers)
2) how you checked the data for errors
3) how you treated missing data
4) what analyses you performed (you may need to be selective in what you present) – your descriiption of the results should be sufficiently clear that the reader could reproduce your results
Your report should include at most three tables or figures, which should come after the main text. Tables should be in the form most suitable for presentation of the results, which is not necessarily the same as the tables in your computer output.
The text (excluding tables) should be no more than 2 sides of single-spaced A4 paper. You should aim to use half to three quarters of a page describing your analysis strategy, three-quarters to one page on the results and about half a page discussing your results. Do not cram more text onto the paper by using small fonts. (Times New Roman 12pt or Arial 11pt are both fine.)
It is essential that this work be handed in to me
Some DOs and DON’Ts:
– DON’T include formulae or Greek letters
– DON’T include variable names
– DON’T write “p=0.000”
– DON’T overdo the decimal places
– DON’T include unedited computer output
– DON’T rush into regression analyses before using simple methods to explore and understand the data
– DO start with simple analyses and techniques before moving on to more complex analyses using more advanced techniques
– DO take study design into account in analyses and in presenting and discussing results
– DO make sure tables have titles
– DO make sure tables can be understood without reading text
– DO try to ensure main argument of text can be understood without reference to tables or figures
– DO make sure that you have given a clear enough descriiption of what you have done so that the reader can reproduce any numbers/results that you present
– DO present stratum-specific RRs (if necessary), DON’T present interaction parameters
– DO be careful how you use the term “significant” (if you must use it)
– DO discuss the exercise with each other but DO write your own report
