Forming Focused Questions with PICO: About PICO
What does PICO stand for?
Additional letters (for PICOT, PICOS, PICOTS, PICOTTS)
- Timeframe
- Type of study
- Setting
Using the PICO Framework
PICO is a widely-used acronym to assist in remembering the key components of a clinical question. There are additional letters and frameworks to help you formulate a question fitting your research.
Not all parts of PICO are required! PICO is a framework to help you narrow your topic, not a rule.
When should you use PICO?
- In academia when you are looking for evidence to support best practice
- In practice when you have a question about patient care
Why should you use PICO?
- Helps you form a focused question that will return relevant results
- Helps you retrieve a manageable amount of results
- Assists you in brainstorming keywords for your research
- Saves time!
PICO Question Templates
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Example PICO questionsUse this worksheet from Sonoma State University to help you structure your PICO question. (Word doc)
Get help with your PICO
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Asking the Well-Built Clinical QuestionThis guide walks you through the steps of EBP from PICO development to appraisal. Developed by UNC and Duke.
Other guides and tools:
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Asking Focused QuestionsPICO guide from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM)
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Formulating Answerable QuestionsPractice developing your PICO questions here.