Anatomy of a Good Research Question

PICO is a focused clinical question that consists of 3 or 4 of these concepts. Writing a PICO question facilitates the search process and identification of best evidence.

•P (Patient problem/characteristics)

•I (Intervention)

•C (Comparison Intervention, where applicable)

•O (Outcome)

Examples

PICO Example 1 With a comparison (C)

In a 30-year old male patient diagnosed with

depression (P), is St. John’s Wort (I) as effective as

SSRIs (C) for reducing depressive symptoms (O)?

•P (Patient problem/characteristics)

•I (Intervention)

•C (Comparison Intervention, where applicable)

•O (Outcome)

Example

PICO Example 2 Without a comparison (C)

In adults with back pain (P), does yoga therapy (I) (C)

reduce pain (O)?

•P (Patient problem/characteristics)

•I (Intervention)

•C (Comparison Intervention, where applicable)

•O (Outcome)