Community Sampling of Health Problem Occurrence

Community Sampling of Health Problem Occurrence BPD Print Community Sampling of Health Problem Occurrence By Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, PhD Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Eastern Connecticut State University. Learn about our editorial policy Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, PhD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on August 05, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on April 29, 2019 Christopher Futcher/E/Getty Images More in BPD Diagnosis Treatment Living With BPD Related Conditions Have you ever wondered what community sampling is? Are you shaking your head? If youre like most people (and especially if youve struggled through difficult math courses you never had a use for later), just the thought of anything with a mathematical basis, particularly statistics, turns you off. So your answer to this question is likely to be, Of course not! But consider this: Math problems you struggled with werent about you. A community sample is another matter: You have a reasonable chance of being part of one, especially if you have  borderline personality disorder  (BPD).?? Community Sampling Is a Different Type of Research You probably know that medical researchers often seek out people to study whove been identified as having certain characteristics, which may include specific diseases or disorders. An example would be a collection of randomly selected persons who are seeking treatment for a mental health disorder such as BPD. This is called a treatment sample. This is the type of study typically done to assess the safety and effectiveness of new pharmaceutical medications.?? Maybe you or someone you know has taken part in this type of clinical study, also called a clinical trial. Community sampling is different. How? In community sampling, the researchers take their study participants, their sample, from the community in general. Not surprisingly, this is called a community sample. Their goal is to learn how many people in the sample have a certain condition, such as BPD. Sometimes, as with other types of research studies, the results of one community sampling may be used to estimate the number of people in larger populations who have the disease or disorder.?When BPD is estimated for larger populations, the result may be that many people who have BPD without knowing it eventually receive the correct diagnosis and treatment. 9 Symptoms May Indicate Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis Community Sampling Is Also Researched Differently Clinical studies like the ones done to test new medications are almost always done at medical research centers.?? The participants  come to the researchers. In contrast, the interviewers for community sampling contact one randomly selected person or household at a time.?? They go to them. The interviews may be done face to face, by telephone or postal mail, or on the Internet. The participants are interviewed once, whereas those taking part in medication-testing clinical trials are most often evaluated over weeks, months, or even years. What Else Should I Know? Researchers choose the type of study they want to do based on many criteria, particularly the specific ways the study findings may be used. For this reason, if you should find yourself looking at a study of, say, people with BPD, you should pay attention to whether the participants were drawn from a treatment or a community sample.