Making and Asking Good Clinical Questions

Flashcards covering types of clinical questions, study designs, the 5 A's of evidence-based practice, and the PICO framework for developing searchable questions and evidence searching order.

What are the two additional elements of a well-built clinical question?

Type of question and type of study.

What are the most common types of clinical questions?

Diagnosis, Therapy, Prognosis, and Harm/Etiology.

Which type of clinical question helps select and interpret diagnostic tests?

Diagnosis.

Which type of clinical question helps select treatments that do more good than harm and are worth the efforts and costs?

Therapy.

Which type of clinical question helps estimate a patient's likely clinical course over time and anticipate complications?

Prognosis.

Which type of clinical question helps identify causes for disease, including iatrogenic forms?

Harm/Etiology.

What is the best study design for a diagnosis question?

Prospective, blind comparison to a gold standard or cross-sectional.

What is the preferred study design for a therapy question?

Randomized controlled trial > cohort study.

What is the preferred study design for a prognosis question?

Cohort study > case control > case series.

What is the preferred study design for a harm/etiology question?

Cohort > case control > case series.

What are the five steps an oral health provider, competent in critical thinking, takes to solve problems?

Convert information needs to a searchable question; Search with maximum efficiency to acquire best evidence; Critically appraise the evidence; Apply the results in clinical practice; Assess your clinical decision making skills.

What are the '5 A's' representing the process of evidence-based practice?

Ask, Acquire, Appraise, Apply, Assess.

What does 'P' stand for in the PICO framework?

Problem/patient/population.

What does 'I' stand for in the PICO framework?

Intervention.

What does 'C' stand for in the PICO framework for a clinical question?

Comparison (which is optional).

What does 'O' stand for in the PICO framework?

Outcome.

How do you draft a clinical question using the PICO framework?

For a (Patient/Problem/Population) will (Intervention) compared to (Comparison optional) produce (Outcome).

What is the recommended order for searching for evidence using the PICO elements?

I+C+P+O (Intervention, then Comparison, Problem, and Outcome).

Which PICO element is considered the most important starting point when searching for evidence?

Intervention.