PICO is a format for developing a good clinical research question prior to starting one’s research. The PICO process starts with a case scenario from which a question is constructed that is relevant to the case and is phrased in such a way as to facilitate finding an answer. Once a well-structured question is formulated, researchers will be in a better position to search the literature for evidence that will support their original PICO question.
| Part of the Acronym | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| P or Population | Who are the relevant patients or the target audience for the problem being addressed? | Adults (people over the age of 18) |
| I or Intervention | What intervention is being considered? | Interactive social media, such as blogs and microblogs (e.g. Twitter), content communities (e.g. Youtube), virtual social networks (e.g. Facebook), and webpages and wiki |
| C or Comparator | What is the main comparator to the intervention that you want to assess? | Non-interactive social media programs |
| O or Outcome | What are the consequences of the interventions for the patient? Or what are the main outcomes of interest to the patient or decision maker? | Health behaviors, health, mental health, well-being, and whether people reported unwanted effects |
| Question type | Framework |
| Etiology/ Risk/ Benefit | PEO: Population, Exposure(s), Outcomes |
| Prevalence/ Incidence | PCS: Population, Condition, Setting or context |
| Diagnostic Test Accuracy | PIRD: Population, Index Test, Reference Test, Diagnosis of Interest |
| Psychometric | PTM: Population, Type of measurement instrument, Measurement properties |
For further reading about determining the scope of the review and the questions it will address, click on this link Chapter 2 of the Cochrane Handbook.
For further reading that goes into detail about articulating the review and PICO, check out the Cochrane Handbook Chapter 3, Section 2.
References
The PICO is based off :
Petkovic, J., Duench, S., Trawin, J., Dewidar, O., Pardo Pardo, J., Simeon, R., DesMeules, M., Gagnon, D., Hatcher Roberts, J., Hossain, A., Pottie, K., Rader, T., Tugwell, P., Yoganathan, M., Presseau, J., & Welch, V. (2021). Behavioural interventions delivered through interactive social media for health behaviour change, health outcomes, and health equity in the adult population. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 5(5), CD012932. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012932.pub2
The definition of PICO was taken from:
Jensen, K. (2018, January 9). Seven Steps to the Perfect PICO Search. Health Notes. https://www.ebsco.com/blogs/health-notes/seven-steps-perfect-pico-search