護理研究之生理測量－－正確性與精確度之探討

Biological Measures in Nursing Research: A Discussion of Accuracy and Precision

護理研究者為追求完整探討個案之健康狀態，除了心理社會層面之測量，近年來更整合生理測量於研究中。生物體存在許多變異與交互作用，使得護理研究者使用生理測量時困難度高，研究設計上面臨諸多挑戰。正確性及精確度是得到客觀、有效的生理變項值非常重要的概念；此二概念就如同量表測量的效度及信度。本文旨在探討生理測量的正確性及精確度相關概念及議題，包括研究者需先瞭解測量生物體可能會遭遇的困難以及所使用儀器之特性，以降低測量誤差，目標乃在使生理測量具備高正確性、精確度。筆者進行簡要的系統性文獻回顧近五年運用生理測量之護理研究，發現42篇文章中僅有21篇同時描述生理測量之正確性與精確度，而有13篇完全未描述生理測量之正確性或精確度，顯示護理研究運用生理測量時，仍應加強說明如何達到生理測量之效度與信度，讓護理研究能符合科學嚴謹度，以提升科學參考價值。

In addition to psychological measures, nurse researchers have been working hard to integrate biological measures into their research in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of client health status. However, the fluctuating and interactive nature of biological systems makes biological measurement a significant challenge to researchers. To obtain objective and valid biological measurement results, it is important to ensure levels of accuracy and precision that are comparable to validity and reliability concepts current in the psychometrics field. The purpose of this article was to describe the concept and issue of accuracy and precision in biological measurement. To reduce measurement errors, researchers must understand the potential difficulties in measuring living organisms and the characteristics of biomedical devices used. The ultimate goal is to conduct biological measurements in a highly accurate and precise manner. The authors conducted a systematic overview of nursing studies that adopted biological measurement run between 2004 and 2008. Among the 42 eligible articles, 50% (n=21) described both accuracy and precision of the biological measurement used, whereas 31% (n=13) did neither. Findings suggest the importance of adequately describing accuracy and precision of biological measurement in nursing studies still needs to be emphasized in order to enhance nursing research rigor.