Discussion Post: PICOT Question
My field of interest is rheumatology, and my topic is the delayed diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). Delayed diagnosis in PsA patients contributes to progressive joint damage and reduced quality of life. Despite the standard diagnostic practices for PsA diagnosis involving a combination of clinical examination, patient history, imaging, and laboratory tests, delayed diagnosis is still high (Karmacharya et al., 2021). Additionally, diagnosing PsA can be challenging, as its symptoms overlap with other types of arthritis, particularly rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis. This discussion presents a Population Intervention Comparison Outcome and Time (PICOT) question developed to investigate the issue of delayed PsA diagnosis. Discussion Post: PICOT Question
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The PICOT question is as follows: Among adult patients presenting with Psoriatic Arthritis symptoms (P), does the use of Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST) (I), compared to the use of standard diagnostic practices (C), lead to a reduction in time to diagnosis of PsA (O), within six months (T)?
P- The population of interest is adult patients with symptoms of PsA, such as joint pain and stiffness
I- the intervention of interest is the use of the Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST), an early screening tool
C- the intervention will be compared with standard diagnostic practices, often relying on clinical judgment and observation of symptom progression
O- the Outcome is a reduction in the time to diagnosis of PsA
T- the time frame is six months of symptom onset. Discussion Post: PICOT Question
References
Karmacharya, P., Wright, K., Achenbach, S. J., Bekele, D., Crowson, C. S., Ogdie, A., Duarte-García, A., Ernste, F. C., Tollefson, M. M., & Davis, J. M. (2021). Diagnostic delay in Psoriatic Arthritis: A population-based study. The Journal of Rheumatology, 48(9), 1410–1416. https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.201199 Discussion Post: PICOT Question
