Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, accurate, and meaningful use of the best results of clinical research in helping a particular patient. One of the key stages of it is formulating a clinical question. This is a question the answer to which helps the doctor effectively solve a clinical problem. To make a clinical question correctly, it is necessary to identify the problem. Therefore, it is necessary first to determine who this question is about (how would I describe a group of patients like mine). Then it is necessary to determine which intervention is being considered for prescribing to a particular patient (for example, drug therapy). Thus, it needs to understand what kind of intervention the prescribed intervention is compared with. In conclusion, a doctor should determine the desired or undesirable outcome and determine the time or age that the doctor will take into account.
From my practice, I can highlight the following PICOT question: (P) – patients over 50 years old, (I) – having a coronavirus vaccine, (K) – not having a coronavirus vaccine, (O) – the possibility of acquiring pneumonia, (T) – during the winter period. Experience in drawing up a clinical question helps to predict the course of the disease in advance. The main purpose of evidence-based research is to test your predetermined beliefs (Lira & Rocha, 2019). Moreover, in medical practice, the speed of determining the patient’s diagnosis and the development of complications is important. Therefore, knowing in advance the course of a particular clinical case helps to orient yourself faster.
By way of conclusion, it is important to note that every doctor must know how to formulate a PICOT question. In evidence-based medicine, the definition of a clinical question is primarily a search for an answer to the question “what to do?”. Consequently, this skill helps to quickly navigate the patient’s diagnosis and care throughout the treatment. Moreover, the clinical question concerns the advantages and disadvantages of preventive or curative interventions.
Reference
Lira, R. P. C., & Rocha, E. M. (2019). PICOT: Imprescriptible items in a clinical research question. Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia, 82, 1-1.