For your assignments, you will be coming up with PICO research questions.
Using PICO can not only help you come up with good research questions, but you can also think of PICO to help you identify the keywords in your research question.
Use the table below to remind yourself of the meaning of PICO.
P |
I |
C |
O |
| Patient | Intervention | Compare | Outcome |
| Think about how you would describe the patient group. Think about age, sex, or specific characteristics. | What is the main intervention, management strategy, or diagnostic test that you are interested in? | Is there an alternative strategy or intervention you could use as a comparison group? | What are the hoped for outcomes or effects of the intervention? |
PICO Research Question Example
Sample question: How does the use of exercise compare to medication in reducing anxiety in elderly women?
| P | I | C | O |
| elderly women | exercise | medication | reducing anxiety |
PICO and Keywords
Once you've identified the PICO elements in your question, you can start creating a list of synonyms you could use for searching.
| P | I | C | O | |
| Keywords | elderly women | exercise | medication | reducing anxiety |
| Synonyms & alternative words | older women | physical activity, physical exertion, active lifestyle, walking, hiking, moderate intensity exercise, strength training, yoga | Benzodiazepines | treatment of anxiety, anxiety treatment, anxiety, management of anxiety |
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