PICOT Questions

Create a PICOT question for a quantitative study and a PICOT question for a qualitative study that relate to your area of interest. Obtain an Evidence-Based Guideline (EBG), Standard of Practice, or best practice in nursing education that pertains to your question.  

Quantitative PICOT

In women with overactive bladder, how do anticholinergics compared to nonpharmacological treatments such as nerve stimulation or physical therapy affect their outcomes?

Evidence-Based Guideline – Incontinence: Diagnosis and Treatment of Non-neurogenic overactive bladder (OAB) in adults

This guideline presented by the American Urological Association best applies to my quantitative PICOT question because they are directly correlated. The guideline goes through specifically how patients are diagnosed and treated with overactive bladder. The guidelines also recommend follow-up and future directions in non-neurogenic overactive bladder. The guideline does recommend nonpharmacological methods of treatment as first line prior to thinking about medications being involved, so perhaps the outcomes would be better for a patient if things like nerve stimulation, physical therapy, or bladder timing would be more beneficial to a patient. Beta-3 adrenergic agents or anticholinergics should be offered as second-line therapy (American Urological Association, 2014).

Qualitative PICOT

How do men diagnosed with prostate cancer perceive their erectile dysfunction following a radical prostatectomy?

Evidence-Based Guideline – Male Sexual Dysfunction: Erectile Dysfunction

This particular guideline is used to direct providers in optimally treating patients with erectile dysfunction, and also to inform those individuals who do have the condition. This guideline also provides a systematic review in finding ways to better diagnose and treat erectile dysfunction (American Urological Association, 2018). During a radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, both nerve and muscle is lost in the groin area. Some of the nerves that are unfortunately not salvaged during the procedure are the nerves responsible for erections. This in turn causes erectile dysfunction. For men in this situation, we usually see a low dose Viagra or Cialis prescribed. The idea is not to give patients erections, it is to rather stimulate the potentially non-severed nerves in the groin area responsible for erections. If those nerves are stimulated early enough, patients may have better outcomes and decrease the likelihood or erectile dysfunction. Taking these medications is also not a guarantee that early stimulation will result in later erection, as stated in the existing guideline (American Urological Association, 2018).

American Urological Association. (2014). Diagnosis and treatment of non-neurogenic overactive bladder (OAB) in adults: AUA/SUFU guideline. Retrieved from https://www.auanet.org/guidelines/incontinence-non-neurogenic-overactive-bladder-(2012-amended-2014)#x2939

American Urological Association. (2018). Erectile Dysfunction: AUA guideline. Retrieved from https://www.auanet.org/guidelines/male-sexual-dysfunction-erectile-dysfunction-(2018)