Evidence-Based Practice: Asking a Clinical Question (PICO)

PICO(T) is a mnemonic that stands for:

PATIENT/PROBLEM/POPULATION

INTERVENTION

COMPARISON

OUTCOME

(TIME)

Are you working on a evidence based project or N-CARE project? Use the PICO(T) format to frame your question.

• Population/ Patient Problem: Who is your patient? (Disease or Health status, age, race, sex) / What is the problem?
• Intervention: What do you plan to do for the patient? (Specific tests, therapies, medications)
• Comparison: What is the alternative to your plan? (ie. No treatment, different type of treatment, etc.)
• Outcome: What outcome do you seek? (Less symptoms, no symptoms, full health, etc.)
• Time:  What is the time frame? (This element is not always included.)

Your PICO(T) question will fall under one of these types:

• Therapy/Prevention
• Diagnosis
• Etiology
• Prognosis

Need Help? Get assistance from the library -  Literature/PICO Search form!

This easy-to-follow tutorial from the Librarians at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, in partnership with the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM), walks you through an example of turning a clinical research question into PICO format and using that to create search terms.