Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step: Asking the Clinical Question

Abstract

This is the third article in a series from the Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovation's Center for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a problem-solving approach to the delivery of health care that integrates the best evidence from studies and patient care data with clinician expertise and patient preferences and values. When delivered in a context of caring and in a supportive organizational culture, the highest quality of care and best patient outcomes can be achieved.The purpose of this series is to give nurses the knowledge and skills they need to implement EBP consistently, one step at a time. Articles will appear every two months to allow you time to incorporate information as you work toward implementing EBP at your institution. Also, we've scheduled "Ask the Authors" call-ins every few months to provide a direct line to the experts to help you resolve questions. Details about how to participate in the next call will be published with May's Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step.

Patients’ online access to their electronic health records and linked online services: a systematic review in primary care

“…23,24 The study aims were structured in a systematic way, using the elements of a clinical question, including population, intervention, comparator, and outcome (Box 1). 25 …”

The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adults With ADHD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Quality of studies was not used as an excluding criteria. The acronym PICO was developed to provide consistency in identifying studies for reviews of clinical research (Stillwell, Fineout-Overholt, Melnyk, & Williamson, 2010) where: (P) patient population, (I) intervention, (C) comparison group, and (O) outcome. PICO was adopted and exhibited by the following criteria:…”

Supervised internship in undergraduate education in nursing: integrative review

“…Chart 1 presents the elements used to construct the research question, and the descriptors and keywords from the PICOT strategy (11)(12) . For the selection of articles, the following databases were used: Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), US National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health (PubMed/MEDLINE) and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) between June and July 2016.…”

“…The Patient/population strategy, Intervention or issue of interest, Comparison intervention or issue of interest, Outcomes and Time (PICOT) strategy (11)(12) was used to construct the guiding question. Component C was not used as it is not intended to make comparisons with other teaching methods.…”

“…The combination of descriptors and keywords was carried out using the Boolean operators AND (restrictive combination) and OR (additive combination), and the descriptors/keywords of the same acronym of the PICOT strategy (11)(12) were used. OR, and for the combination of different acronyms, the AND (11)(12) .…”