How Do I Formulate a Question?
A well structured question will help you:
- select search terms
- decide which database to search
- figure out what results to exclude
PICO Question Format
PICO is a clinical question format for Evidence-Based Practice. This question format includes four components:
P = Patient/Population/Problem
The most clinically relevant characteristics of this patient, population, or problem.
I = Intervention
The intervention you are considering in relation to the patient/population, such as therapy, diagnostic method, prognostic factor, etc.
C = Comparison
An alternative intervention or the control (no action or the current standard of care). Sometimes left out of a question.
O = Outcome
Measurable impact, change, or improvement.
The chart below comes from the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine's guide on asking a focused question.
There are other methods for structuring and formatting a question. If PICO doesn't work for you or the type of question you are asking, try one of these other formats.