Critical Appraisal of Evidence on Illicit Drug Use at Music Festivals in Australia

This paper provides a critical appraisal of a research paper on the proportion and pattern of illicit drug use amongst young people and their perspective towards drug checking behavior at music festivals in Australia. It also reflects on the concern of a mother regarding drug testing and its impact on young people.

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Title
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HLSC122 Semester 1, 2019
Assessment 3: Critical appraisal of evidence
Word count:
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Introduction
The usage of illicit drugs has been common phenomena which are frequently
observed in the music festivals of Australia. A survey suggested that in 2016,
approximately 8. 5 million of Australian aged 14 years or above identified the usage of
illicit drugs in their lifespan (Dilkes-Frayne, 2016). The researchers highlighted that the
highest prevalence of drug use has been observed in a population of 20 to 29 years.
The risk factors related with the drugs like methylenedioxymethamphetamine, ecstasy
include seizers, hyperthermia multi-organ failure followed by death (Gjersing et al.,
2019). In this case, drug check services play a potential role in the reduction of harms
associated with illicit drug use (Gjersing et al., 2019). This paper will provide a critical
appraisal of a research paper and reflect on the concern of the mother of Emily in the
following paragraphs.
PART A – Critical appraisal
Authorship:
Niamh Day, Joshua Criss, Benjamin Griffiths, Shireen Kaur Gujral, Franklin
John-Leader, Jennifer Johnston and Sabrina Pit are authors of the research. In the
development of the research, they were involved and Ethics approval for this study was
gained from the UWS Human Research Ethics Committee (H11327).
Research questions:
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The authors undertook two research question for investigation. The first research
question is what are the Proportion as well as a pattern of the illicit drug use amongst
young people and what are the perspective they have towards drugs checking behavior
at the festival?
The second research question: what is the potential impact of drug checking services
on the behavior of desired drug use?
The authors conducted this study guided by these two research questions
because a significant number of people are experiencing side effects such as seizers,
hyperthermia multi-organ failure (Day et al., 2018). Hence it is critical to find out the
attitude of adolescents and adults towards the drug checking and impact in the intended
drug use.
Research design:
In this research, Day et al. (2018) have showed research design in the
procedure along with a thorough explanation of the process of including include
participants for the study. Here, Day et al. (2018) undertook mixed method for
addressing the research questions such as quantitative as well as a quantitative
research method. As discussed by Greenhalgh et al. (2018), mixed method strategies
are a useful method of conducting a comprehensive study since it allows the researcher
to explore as well as analysis in the same study. While researchers can obtain
emotional data, they are able to obtain numerical data. Hence, it is appropriate for the
study.
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Research methods:
Day et al. (2018) recruited participants from the festival attendees of the major
Australian music festival in 2016 with inclusion criteria of the festival attendees of 18 to
30 years. The researches recruited a total of 642 participants for conducting a survey
where participants provided participant information statement and they were educated
about the survey and the aim of the study. The paper-based survey was conducted for
collecting data. The researchers also asked one open-ended question regarding their
reluctance to find out about the content/purity of their drugs. As discussed by Ponto
(2015), survey is a most suitable method of collecting data since it represents a large
number of population with low biases of the result and it has high statistical values
which indicate an accuracy of the collecting research. Hence it is appropriate for
collecting data. For analyzing data SPSS Version 22 and chi-square test, as well as t-
test, were used which is an appropriate method of analyzing data and obtaining
numerical results within a short period of time. Moreover, for open-ended question
analysis which further helped to gain the understanding of the point of the participants
participated in the study. Hence, it is an appropriate method of data collection for the
study (Imhof et al., 2016).
Results and limitations:
The research conducted by the researchers answered the research questioned
of the study. The researchers showed that 92.8% of participants used illicit drugs
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during a music festival where 66. 7% of participants used MDMA and 51% used cocaine
(Day et al., 2018). The researchers also showed that drug check services are useful in
reducing the harm and free drug checking services are preferred by women. For
obtaining the understanding regarding the attitude of participants towards the drug
checking services, researchers highlighted that the participants believed that drug
checking services are quality control mechanism and drug deals do not want to include
unintended substances (Day et al., 2018). The researchers also highlighted that drug
users reduces their drug consuming behavior if drug checking services revealed
undesired substance. The drug checking along with the consultation was a vital harm
reduction tool for high-risk groups.
The limitation of the study is that there were no data found regarding drug
checking services and whether the participants will use drugs having undesired
substances or not. This further impact the validity of the research data since the open-
ended question appeared at the end of the study reduces, the probability of the
researchers to complete the survey decreases (Day et al., 2018). Hence, in order to
obtain accurate data of the research, the data regarding checking services as well as
participants who are using drugs containing undesired substances is required.
Moreover, the answer to the last open-ended question was dependent on the
perception of participants which affect the validity of the research.
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PART B – Application of evidence to practice
In the case study, it was highlighted that Emily is attending a music festival in
Melbourne this weekend. Emily’s mother has concerned as she has heard drug testing
is being done and it encourages the young people to take illicit drugs. Considering this
belief, it can be said that this belief is false as it was a reflection of fear her mother had
for her child and inadequate literacy regarding drug testing. Considering the research
undertaken by Day et al. (2018) it can be said that drug testing services reduce the
behavior of consuming drugs such as cocaine, , and MDMA (Day et al., 2018). The
research also highlighted that drug checking services also offers adequate knowledge
regarding the taking undesired toxic substance as a drug and tests the drugs with
trained staffs (Day et al., 2018). Hence, in the music festivals free drug checking
services, potentially reduces the drug consuming behavior amongst the young adults
and prevent the drug consumers (Day et al., 2018). However, the barriers, in this case,
are that the kits for drug testing are complicated and difficult to interpret, indicating the
trained members are required for drug tester (Day et al., 2018).
Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that in the music festival, the use of the illicit drug
behavior is a common phenomenon. The aim of the research was to identify the proper
amount of drug that affects the health, the attitude of drug users towards the drug
testing services and impact of the drug testing services on the undesired substances.
The researchers have undertaken a mixed method of the research and result suggested
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that drug check services are useful in reducing the harm. The free drug checking
services are preferred by women. However, kits for drug testing are complicated and
difficult to interpret which further reduces the validity of the testing. Hence, trained
members are required for drug testing services for preventing illicit drug use.
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References (including the paper being critically appraised)
Greenhalgh, T.M., Bidewell, J., Crisp, E., Lambros, A., & Warland, J. (2018). Understanding
research methods for evidence-based practice in health. Milton, Qld: Wiley.).
Day, N., Criss J., Griffiths, B., Gujral, S.K., John-Leader, F., Johnson, J., & Pit, S. (2018). Music
festival attendees’ illicit drug use, knowledge and practices regarding drug content and
purity: A cross-sectional survey. Harm Reduction Journal, 15(1), 1-8. doi:
10.1186/s12954-017-0205-7
Dilkes-Frayne, E. (2016). Drugs at the campsite: Socio-spatial relations and drug use at music
festivals. International journal of drug policy, 33, 27-35.
Gjersing, L., Bretteville-Jensen, A. L., Furuhaugen, H., & Gjerde, H. (2019). Illegal substance use
among 1,309 music festival attendees: An investigation using oral fluid sample drug
tests, breathalysers and questionnaires. Scandinavian journal of public health,
1403494818821481.
Imhof, H. K., Laforsch, C., Wiesheu, A. C., Schmid, J., Anger, P. M., Niessner, R., & Ivleva, N. P.
(2016). Pigments and plastic in limnetic ecosystems: A qualitative and quantitative study
on microparticles of different size classes. Water research, 98, 64-74.
Laumer, S., Maier, C., & Weitzel, T. (2017). Information quality, user satisfaction, and the
manifestation of workarounds: a qualitative and quantitative study of enterprise
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content management system users. European Journal of Information Systems, 26(4),
333-360.
Ponto, J. (2015). Understanding and evaluating survey research. Journal of the advanced
practitioner in oncology, 6(2), 168.
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