PICO(T) is a mnemonic used to formulate a well-built clinical question and to identify key concepts and search terms.
P = Patient/population/problem
I = Intervention/exposure
C = Comparison
O = Outcome
T = Type of question
Patient / Population / Problem
- How would you describe a group of patients similar to yours?
- What are the most important characteristics of the patient or population?
- What is the health issue to address?
- Does gender/age influence clinical care?
Intervention / Exposure
- The action taken in response to the problem
- What will I do for my patient?
- Could include:
Therapy
Exposure
Patient Perception
Prognostic Factor
Diagnostic Test
Comparison
- A benchmark against which the intervention is measured
- Often it refers to another treatment, no treatment, or a placebo
- The only element of PICO that can be omitted
Outcome
- The anticipated result of the intervention
- What is the clinical outcome, including a time horizon if relevant?
- What will be improved for the patient?
- What are you trying to do for the patient?
Type of Question
- What type of question are you asking?
- Type of Study? What would be the best study design/methodology?
- Diagnosis, Etiology/Harm, Therapy, Prognosis, Prevention, Phenomena
