A clinical question needs to be directly relevant to the patient or problem at hand and phrased in such a way as to facilitate the search for an answer. PICO makes this process easier. It is a mnemonic for the important parts of a well-built clinical question. It also helps formulate the search strategy by identifying the key concepts that need to be in the article that can answer the question.
The research process takes on many forms, and can often become difficult if one is not properly prepared. Proper preparation for research includes understanding how to formulate a quality research question. This is something that often eludes individuals in all areas, not just nursing. Understanding the difference between background and foreground information is not only key to crafting good research questions, it's necessary for creating good clinical questions overall.
Like most pre-research, background questions are not used to identify or solve problems, but aim to find general knowledge about a condition or thing. This information broadens the search, provides a foundation for concepts, and typically has two essential pieces:
The purpose of these questions is to gain specific knowledge to inform clinical decisions or actions. They require a grasp of basic concepts for full comprehension, and are often found in journals and conference proceedings. Additionally, they have 3-4 primary pieces and make up your PICO(T) question.
| What it Stands For | Question to Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| P | Population, Problem, or Patient | What is the problem to be addressed? What are the characteristics of the patient population, or disease of interest? |
| I | Intervention | What is the relevant treatment or exposure? What action or change would affect the patient/problem/population? |
| C | Comparison | What is the alternative to the intervention? (A different intervention? The usual standard of care? Not intervening at all?) |
| O | Outcome | What are the relevant effects? |
| T | Timeframe, or Type of Study | How can you narrow down the question more? |
This guide is a derivative of the Introduction to Evidence-Based Practice tutorial by Duke University Medical Center Library and the Health Sciences Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 
Additional information adapted from the School of Nursing Research Guide at Oregon Health and Science University Library, created by Loree Hyde.
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Except where otherwise noted, content in these research guides is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.