Framing a Practice Problem as a Critical Question with Measurable Outcomes

Depression among adolescents is increasingly becoming a public health priority. The lifetime prevalence is estimated to be near 13%, with over twenty-eight percent of high school students indicating depressive symptoms (Beck et al., 2022). Adolescent depression is a known risk factor for early pregnancy, substance use, poor academic performance and adverse equality of life. The screening rates for depression are low, with a low proportion of adolescents being diagnosed with depression before adult onset (Davis et al., 2022). Besides, most of those diagnosed with adolescent depression do not receive recommended care (Costantini et al., 2021). Thus, the practice problem is low rates of screening depression at the practice site. Barriers to depression screening include lack of training, time constraints, and lack of confidence among providers (Beck et al., 2022). Besides, adolescents experience several barriers to accessing proper mental health care services due to underinsurance, availability, lack of referrals and family factors. The practice problem can be framed as a clinical question using the PICOT format, which provides relevant information such as population, issue of interest, intervention, comparison, outcomes and implementation time. The format is searchable and efficient, highlighting what the clinician needs to uncover in the research process (Dang & Dearholt, 2018). For the practice problem, the PICOT is, “Among staff in primary care practice, how does the use of staff education (I) compared to routine care (C) improve adolescent depression screening rates (O) after three months (T)? PICOT QUESTION: Among staff in primary care practice, how does the use of staff education compared to routine care improve adolescent depression screening rates (O) after three months