MACDONALD-KELCE LIBRARY
What is PICOT?
PICOT, or PICO or PICOTTS, is a strategy for breaking research down into evidence-based clinical results. The PICOT breaks down your search into identifiable parts. It is not necessary to have something in every element.
| What It Stands For | Question to Answer | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Patient/Population/Problem | How would I describe the problem or group of patients similar to mine? |
Population: Age, gender, setting, ethnicity Problem: Work conditions, environments of care, variations in practice |
|
| I |
|
What is the intervention I am considering? | Treatments, standardized protocols, scales, tools to assess something | |
| C | Comparison/Control |
|
Standard of care | |
| O | Outcome | What do I hope to measure, improve, accomplish, or affect? | Reduction in falls, decrease in post-surgical infections, decrease in post-surgery nausea and vomiting, decrease in recovery time, increase in patient satisfaction | |
| T | Timeframe or Type (optional) | What is the period? What type of study? |
30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 1 year Meta-analysis, Systemic Review, Randomized, Cohort, Control, Cross-sectional |
How PICOT is different from other research questions.
PICOT isn't just a simple research question; it's a powerful tool for improving healthcare. It helps researchers find the best evidence for better patient care by breaking down complex topics into focused keywords, making it easier to search for high-quality research and guiding evidence-based practice. Before creating a PICOT question, it's important to review existing research to understand current knowledge, identify potential solutions, and avoid missing important studies.
Example1
Does implementation of (I) routine depression screening among (P) adults in a free primary care clinic with a vulnerable population increase (C) proper identification of the appropriate mental health disorder and (O) decrease misdiagnosis or lack of diagnosing?
Example 2:
In patients with chronic diseases (P), what is the effect of nurse-led discharge education sessions (I), compared with standard discharge procedures (C), on readmission rates (O)?
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