Reading Critically: Evaluating a Research Article on Inspiratory Muscle Activation in COPD

READING CRITICALLY
Harvard Reference (Authors, Date, Title, etc.) of your Article:
Sarlabous, L., Torres, A., Fiz, J. A., Martínez-Llorens, J. M., Gea, J., & Jané, R. (2017). Inspiratory muscle activation increases with
COPD severity as confirmed by non-invasive mechanomyographic analysis. PloS one, 12(5), e0177730.
1. Evaluating your Source/Article Your Evaluation
Relevance
to Your
Topic
Title, Abstract,
Keywords
Considering that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) is my research topic,
this research is relevant since its title is based upon inspiratory muscle activity in COPD,
shows similarity to key word search terms like ‘COPD’, ‘muscle activation’ and
‘assessment’. The abstract also shows relevance by discussing on mechanical muscle
activation assessment using non-invasive mechanomyograph analysis,
Reliability/
Authority
Authors:
Named?
Roles/Workplace?
Credentials?
Can contact?
The names of the authors have been clearly mentioned along with the various healthare and
medicinal institutes they are engaged in. There is however, no mention about their
credentials or means of contact.
Publication Type:
Peer-reviewed journal/
conference paper?
Published book or book
chapter?
The study has been published by PloS One, an open access, peer reviewed publisher
dealing with publishing of technology, medicine and science peer reviewed journals.
Publisher:
Reputable?
PlosS One is highly reputable and also engages in publishing of six additional, open access
science and medicine journals
Timeliness Up-to-date? The study is relatively up-to-date, and has published within the last 5 years, that is, 2017.
References Quantity?
Quality?
The study shows a list of 38 references, which is a sufficiently high number, if not more.
Overall Evaluation:
Would you, at this stage, include this
article in your Literature
Review? Justify.
Despite lacking in Author credentials and contacts, I would still include this journal due to
its currency and peer reviewed characteristic of publishing. Scholarly, peer reviewed
articles within a recent time frame have been associated with greater validity,
conclusiveness and correctness (Nicholas et al. 2015).
2. Preparing to Read What is the main gist of the article?

Skim/read
quickly
Abstract Considering the dearth of equipment evaluating the activation of respiratory muscle during the
cycle of breathing in clinical scenarios, the chosen research aimed to assess the effectiveness of
respiratory muscle mechanomyogram (MMG) for non-invasive assessment of inspiratory muscle
mechanical activation.
Intro Strength of inspiratory muscle may be decreased in COPD patients due to pulmonary
hyperinflation, shortening of diaphragm, disrupted muscular capacity of force generation
resulting in hindered pulmonary muscle mechanical effectiveness and the need for non-invasive
assessment of the same, as a diagnostic and screening index.
Section Headings Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion.
Conclusion As per results obtained, inspiratory muscle’s mechanical activation in COPD patients is reported
efficiently by non-linear MLZ (multistate Lempel-Ziv) index calculated by MMG as compared
to RMS (root mean square), due to its capability of not being affected by breathing-associated
noises. Hence, this study reports the efficiency of MMG and its potential to be used in the
evaluation of breathing characteristics of COPD patients.
3. Critical Reading & Note-
Taking
Page Notes
Main topic? 1 Inspiratory muscle activation increases with
COPD severity as confirmed by non-invasive
mechanomyographic analysis
Research questions(s)? 3 Main objectives of the study have been highlighted instead of research questions.
What are the relevant issues
raised in the Literature
Review/Background?
2,3 COPD results in loss of mechanical efficiency in muscles resulting in reduced inspiratory
strength of muscles.
Traditional techniques of RMS are often by breathing noises and cardiac vibrations.
MLZ index recorded by MMG for inspiratory muscle strength evaluation is unaffected
by such noise and hence, deemed to more effective.
What is the Research Method? 1, 3 Experimental Research, not mentioned exclusively but can be understood by reading the
abstract, materials and methods section
What are the relevant
Results/Findings?
1, 9 The MLZ index displayed strong correlation with peak inspiratory mouth pressure in
both COPD (r = 0.80, p < 0.001) and healthy individuals (r = 0.82, p < 0.001). Increased
COPD severity recorded increased muscle activation (r = - 0.68, p = 0.001). Decreased