Skip to main content

Creating Clinical Questions Using PICO (#7)

By
PICO is a tool that you can use to help you to create a clinical question. This type of question applies to the assessment of interventions used for specific patient groups.

  • Patient – who is the patient or patient group? What is their condition / disease? What are the patient characteristics, such as gender or age?
  • Intervention – what is the intervention or treatment?
  • Comparison – what is the intervention being compared against? For example another treatment, a placebo or nothing
  • Outcome – what outcome is expected to change and is being measured?

Once you have identified the different elements you can then formulate your question more clearly. This will help you to identify the keywords you will need to use in your search strategy.

Coloured buttons representing the elements of PICO
Coloured buttons representing the elements of PICO

If you would like to practice creating PICO questions you can try our Using PICO Quiz. To learn more about how to breakdown your question, complete our etutorial Identify Your Question.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BMJ Case Reports - the journal for unusual clinical cases

By
 You can browse or search the journal BMJ Case Reports for unusual clinical cases. This journal includes rare conditions and unexpected complications. Cases are peer-reviewed and offer excellent case-based learning to support your professional development. You can also submit your own case reports for free! This gives you an opportunity to share your knowledge and become a published author. Access to this journal is available to UHNM staff, via their NHS OpenAthens username. You'll find a link to this journal, as well as other resources on our NHS Resources page . There is more help, including links to instructions for authors, on our BMJ Case Reports help page . If you need more help or information just ask at the Health Library .
Post a Comment
Read more

Royal Marsden Manual - key resource for nursing guidelines and procedures

By
 Make sure you are delivering best practice to your patients by checking the Royal Marsden Manual online. Nursing staff and healthcare and nursing assistants working in the NHS can access the Royal Marsden Manual for key guidelines and procedures. This resource has a user-friendly design where you can search for topics or browse through the chapters. Content includes evidence-based procedures, as well as illustrations and references to offer you the best practical advice to support your patients. It is regularly updated, so always worth checking in to get the most recent evidence. Royal Marsden Manual online is available to all NHS staff, via NHS OpenAthens login. You'll find a link to this resource, along with many others, on our NHS Resources page . Check our Royal Marsden Manual help page for instructions on how to log in. Wiley, the publishers, offer regular online training sessions - we'll post the dates on our blog. Or ask our trainers if you want a quick overview. If y...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is NHS OpenAthens?

By
 To access our NHS-subscribed, online resources you need a username / password - this is an NHS OpenAthens username / password. OpenAthens is a protocol that allows you to log in to many different online resources using just one username and password. It is a service purchased by the NHS so that all NHS staff can easily access online resources such as ebooks, articles, journals, databases and clinical tools. To register for your NHS OpenAthens username complete the online form . Need more help? For more help you can: Contact your NHS OpenAthens administrator Complete our etutorial: NHS OpenAthens - what's fact or fake? Go to our NHS OpenAthens web page Go to our NHS OpenAthens help page
Post a Comment
Read more