C is for Comparison
What is the Comparison?
In general most, but not all, clinical questions have a comparison. A comparison is the alternative that you want to compare to your intervention.
For example:
- Is aspirin as effective in preventing strokes as warfarin?
- Is chicken soup as effective as bed rest in treating a cold?
Case:
You examine a five-year old Asian American female, Junko Morioka, in your office and determine that she is suffering from Acute Otitis Media. Her mother mentions that Junko seems to get these ear infections every once in a while and that sometimes they ‘just go away’ and other times Junko seems to need antibiotics. Junko’s mother is worried about Junko developing a resistance to all these antibiotics and wonders aloud if antibiotics are really necessary.
Please think of a short statement identifying a potential comparison in the case above.
[You’ll refer back to your statement later in the tutorial]