Check your comprehension

~What are abstract’s purposes?

~Name some guidelines which can be useful for writing an abstract for a conference. Which of them do you consider to be of highest importance? Why?

 

 

Language study

1) Look at the possible structure of an abstract and match each part of an abstract with the phrases which can be used in them to signal their purposes:

Structure

Useful phrases

1. Key background to the research 2. Research question 3. Hypothesis 4. Main methods used 5. Key results 6. Implication of the findings

A. Here we report that… B. An investigation was taken to explore … C. Results show that … D. We demonstrate that… E. The aim of the study was to… F. The study provides strong evidence that … G. The data suggest that … H. We expect that … I. We investigated a new method of … J. The method involved … K. The present study investigates … L. It seems likely that … M. The question is whether … N. One possibility that …

2) Read an abstract given below and in pairs:

A) Decide on the best order for the extracts in the abstract.

B) Describe the structure of the abstract.

C) How well does the title describe the results of the paper?

Thrombolytic therapy in unstable patients with acute pulmonary embolism: saves lives but underused.

A) Stein PD, Matta F.

B) In-hospital all-cause case fatality rate according to treatment was determined in unstable patients with pulmonary embolism who were discharged from short-stay hospitals throughout the United States from 1999 to 2008 by using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Unstable patients were in shock or ventilator dependent.

C) Department of Research, St Mary Mercy Hospital, Livonia, Michigan 48154, USA. [email protected]

D) In-hospital all-cause case fatality rate and case fatality rate attributable to pulmonary embolism in unstable patients was lower in those who received thrombolytic therapy. Thrombolytic therapy resulted in a lower case fatality rate than using vena cava filters alone, and the combination resulted in an even lower case fatality rate. Thrombolytic therapy in combination with a vena cava filter in unstable patients with acute pulmonary embolism seems indicated.

E) Among unstable patients with pulmonary embolism, 21,390 of 72,230 (30%) received thrombolytic therapy. In-hospital all-cause case fatality rate in unstable patients with thrombolytic therapy was 3105 of 21,390 (15%) versus 23,820 of 50,840 (47%) without thrombolytic therapy (P<.0001). All-cause case fatality rate in unstable patients with thrombolytic therapy plus a vena cava filter was 505 of 6630 (7.6%) versus 4260 of 12,850 (33%) with a filter alone (P<.0001). Case fatality rate attributable to pulmonary embolism in unstable patients was 820 of 9810 (8.4%) with thrombolytic therapy versus 1080 of 2600 (42%) with no thrombolytic therapy (P<.0001). Case fatality rate attributable to pulmonary embolism in unstable patients with thrombolytic therapy plus vena cava filter was 70 of 2590 (2.7%) versus 160 of 600 (27%) with a filter alone (P<.0001).

F) Data are sparse and inconsistent regarding whether thrombolytic therapy reduces case fatality rate in unstable patients with acute pulmonary embolism. We tested the hypothesis that thrombolytic therapy reduces case fatality rate in such patients.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22325236