FPX4030 PICO(T) Questions and an Evidence-Based Approach

Introduction

In order to create an effective plan of care with positive outcomes for patients being treated for acute stroke in the Emergency Departent (ED), PICO(T) research framework has to be implemented.A well-designed research questions using the PICOT (Population; Intervention; Comparator; Outcome; Time-frame) is a format that is often used in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that can improve the quality of research (Abbade et al., 2017). Utilizing a PICO(T) Approach when Caring for Patients with Acute Stroke Stroke is a complicated disease process and the science guiding optimal identification and treatment of stroke patients is continuously evolving.“Because of the difficulty in identifying stroke patients and the importance of their rapid transport to stroke centers, stroke presents a complex challenge for prehospital providers” (Glober et al., 2016).Timely recognition is the most critical step in prehospital care of a patient with an acute stroke and must be able to differentiate from sepsis, hypo- or hyperglycemia, seizure, tumor, intracranial hemorrhage, migraine, and syncope. Therefore, clinical questions begin from Emergency Medical Services (EMS) transporting the patient to the ED or from triage for walk-in patients in the ED to help identify stroke patients found with acute neurological deficits in order to facilitate proper care. There are a variety of scoring systems that fits the criteria of PITCO(T) in helping to determine the severity of the acute stroke patients.Such scoring systems that are most commonly uses are: Face Arm Speech Test (FAST), Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS), or the Los Angeles Prehospital Stroke Screen (LAPSS)