The Well-Built Clinical Question
PICO Worksheet
INSTRUCTIONS:
Think about a complex clinical problem that you encountered in your daily practice. Use the following table to identify the patient/population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes. Once is done try to formulate your question.
Question Components
Your Question
P – Patient or Population
Describe the most important characteristics of the patient.
(e.g., age, disease/condition, gender)
I – Intervention; Prognostic Factor; Exposure
Describe the main intervention.
(e.g., drug or other treatment, diagnostic/screening test)
C – Comparison (if appropriate)
Describe the main alternative being considered.
(e.g., placebo, standard therapy, no treatment, the gold standard)
O – Outcome
Describe what you’re trying to accomplish, measure, improve, affect.
(e.g., reduced mortality or morbidity, improved memory, accurate and timely diagnosis)
The well-built clinical question:
INSTRUCTIONS: Fill in the blanks with information from your clinical scenario:
THERAPY
In_______________, what is the effect of ________________on _______________ compared with _________________?
PREVENTION
For ___________ does the use of _________________ reduce the future risk of ____________ compared with ______________?
DIAGNOSIS OR DIAGNOSTIC TEST
Are (Is) ________________ more accurate in diagnosing _______________ compared with ____________?
PROGNOSIS
Does ____________ influence ______________ in patients who have _____________?
ETIOLOGY
Are ______________ who have _______________ at ______________ risk for/of ____________ compared with _____________
with/without______________?
MEANING
How do _______________ diagnosed with _______________ perceive __________________?
INSTRUCTIONS: Scenario (check all that apply):
Type of Question
Ideal Type of Study
Therapy
RCT
Prevention
RCT > Cohort Study > Case Control
Diagnosis
Prospective, blind controlled trial comparison to gold standard
Prognosis
Cohort Study > Case Control > Case Series/Case Report
Etiology/Harm
RCT > Cohort Study > Case Control
Cost analysis
economic analysis
Note: Meta-analyses and systematic reviews, when available, often provide the best answers to clinical questions.
INSTRUCTIONS:
OR
AND
Main Concepts (PICO concepts)
MeSH/Subject Headings
Synonyms
Search Strategy Development
INSTRUCTIONS: Finding the right words to get what you want. From your PICO, fill in as much as you can of the table below.
Primary search term
Synonym 1
Synonym 2
P
I
C
O
INSTRUCTIONS: List your inclusion criteria –i.e. gender, age, years of publication
INSTRUCTIONS: Check any limit that may pertain to your search:
_____ Age ___________________ Language __________ Year of publication
Type of study/publication you want to include in your search: (From Step 2 of tutorial)
__ Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis
__ Clinical Practice Guidelines
__ Critically Appraised Research Studies
__ Individual Research Studies
__ Electronic Textbooks
Check the databases you searched:
__ Cochrane Library
__ Joanna Briggs
__ CINAHL with Full Text
__ PubMed Clinical Queries
What information did you find to help answer your question?
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