PICO(T) Questions and Evidence-Based Approach

PICOT refers to the Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Timeline model. This framework enables healthcare practitioners to incorporate evidence-based practice in their research. The PICOT model serves as a guide for researchers to develop a specific research question that forms the basis of their research study, design, literature, and most importantly, evaluating the treatment interventions’s effectiveness (Kloda et al., 2020). The PICOT model can be utilized in qualitative and quantitative research to make the research process better. This assessment specifically will discuss the PICOT model for the diagnosis and treatment of gastroenteritis. Early diagnosis of gastroenteritis can help increase the survival rate and save patients from complications that can be caused due to delayed diagnosis. 

PICOT Approach for Analyzing Possible Treatment of Gastroenteritis 

The delay in gastroenteritis treatment might lead to consequences such as a high death rate, expensive treatment, and hospitalization rates. Nearly 68 million cases of gastroenteritis are reported annually according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Schmidt et al., 2022). The PICOT method helps healthcare providers to know about their patients in more detail. Moreover, it allows them to find the best possible intervention for their patients as well. The PICOT method also serves as a guide to help healthcare practitioners research evidence-based treatment interventions for gastroenteritis (Kloda et al., 2020). PICOT is rooted in providing efficient patient care and improving treatment. 

A PICOT question is; 

In patients with gastroenteritis (P), does the implementation of advanced treatment techniques (such as oral rehydration) (I) compared to standard treatment methods (C) result in improved treatment of gastroenteritis, reduced treatment cost, readmission rate, serious complications, and improve patients outcomes (O), in one year (T)?

Benefit of a PICO (T) Approach

The PICOT approach allows researchers to create a research question that can identify studies relevant to the problem in question. It also helps researchers to gather evidence for it and conclude the impact of delayed intervention on patients with gastroenteritis. Using this approach, researchers can come up with a better and improved treatment intervention as well as improved diagnostic methods (Kloda et al., 2020). With the PICOT approach, researchers can identify a population of interest. Moreover, it will help in comparing the previous interventions developed with older methods and provide detailed evidence on the implementation of the new treatment strategy for gastroenteritis. Such as, in our case, treating gastroenteritis with rehydration therapy is better than just utilizing fluids because it will allow faster rehydration in the body. Moreover, PICOT questions also help to evaluate specific time frames in which these interventions will help to achieve the desired outcome. 

Sources of Evidence

PICOT evaluates the importance of advanced gastroenteritis treatment methods such as Oral rehydration therapy is far more effective than intravenous (IV) fluid therapy for the treatment of gastroenteritis. Oral rehydration is a widely used treatment intervention for gastroenteritis and proves effective in reducing complications (Leung & Hon, 2021). Various systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials have provided evidence that oral rehydration is an effective method for gastroenteritis treatment. Additionally, systematic reviews and meta-analyses of oral rehydration examine the impact of better treatment and intervention on gastroenteritis progression and outcomes. 

Criteria or Rationale

To evaluate the credibility of the resources, the CRAAP test is utilized to test the currency, relevancy, accuracy, authority, and purpose of a source. The sources added in this assessment are credible as they are up-to-date, belong to research from the last 5 years, and are also relevant to the topic in discussion, gastroenteritis (Esparrago, 2021). Furthermore, these sources provide relevant information as they are written by reputed scholars and are published by credible sources as well. 

Findings from Articles

According to a study published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (JPGN), slow rehydration is a significant problem in the case of gastroenteritis, which leads to serious consequences including delayed treatment, expensive treatment, and worsened pain in patients. To overcome this issue, oral rehydration is recommended for a better treatment of gastroenteritis. Oral rehydration provides rapid hydration in the body and reduces the chances of going towards dehydration and other symptoms caused by gastroenteritis (Leung & Hon, 2021). Another study by Florezz (2020) shows that the fluids that have zinc and symbiotics in the fluids are effective for the treatment of gastroenteritis as compared to other fluids. The results show that incorporating zinc and symbiotic fluids in oral rehydration therapy provides far better results. 

Most Credible Source

The most credible source is Alexender and Kam (2021) because it is high-quality up-to-date and available on the National Library of Medicine, a well-reputed website. Moreover, this source provides relevant and accurate data because this source is related to gastroenteritis management. 

Relevance of these Findings

Within 3 months, early intervention of oral rehydration therapy reduces the chances of dehydration in patients with gastroenteritis. Moreover, it will also reduce the mortality rates. There are several explanations related to oral rehydration will help reduce serious complications and readmission rates. These findings are relevant to our formulated PICOT questions as these are also related to gastroenteritis better treatment using oral rehydration rather than the standard treatment intervention. Along with this, within one or two years, this method will help to manage gastroenteritis symptoms among people relevant to our PICOT period.

Relevant Findings Leading to Positive Outcomes

It is confirmed that oral rehydration therapy is an important intervention to treat gastroenteritis in the early stages. This method is a cost-effective way to reduce the complications caused by prolonged gastroenteritis and helps reduce hospital mortality and readmission rates. 

Conclusion

Gatroentetritis is considered to be one of the most common diseases but advanced treatment interventions provide better healthcare to patients. It also reduces the mortality rates and readmission rates as well. The PICOT framework allows the identification of an evidence-based research question and provides an in-depth guide to provide evidence-based research on the specific issue. Furthermore, it also helps to develop improved treatment strategies. However, the CRAAP test helps to determine the credibility and relevancy of resources involved in the research. 

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). What is Diabetes? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/diabetes.html

Esparrago, A. J. (2021). The effectiveness of CRAAP test in evaluating the credibility of sources. International Journal of TESOL & Education, 1(2), 1-14. https://www.i-jte.org/index.php/journal/article/view/25 

Florez, I.D., Niño, L.F. & Beltrán, C.P. (2020). Acute infectious diarrhea and gastroenteritis in children. Current Infectious Disease Report, 22(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-020-0713-6 

Guarino, A., Aguilar, J., Berkley, J., Broekaert, I., Vazquez, R., Holtz, L., & Treepongkaruna, S. (2020). Acute gastroenteritis in children of the world: what needs to be done? Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 70(5), 694-701. 

Kloda, L. A., Boruff, J. T., & Cavalcante, A. S. (2020). A comparison of patient, intervention, comparison, outcome (PICO) to a new, alternative clinical question framework for search skills, search results, and self-efficacy: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 108(2), 185. 

Leung, A. K., & Hon, K. L. (2021). Pediatrics: how to manage viral gastroenteritis. Drugs in Context, 10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-020-0713-6 

Schmidt, M. A., Groom, H. C., Rawlings, A. M., Mattison, C. P., Salas, S. B., Burke, R. M., & Hall, A. J. (2022). Incidence, etiology, and healthcare utilization for acute gastroenteritis in the community, United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 28(11), 2234. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2811.220247