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NURS 4222: Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice: Asking Your Question (PICO)

Focusing Clinical Questions: PICO

The first step in the EBP process is to ask a clinical question that can be answered with evidence-based research. To help us take our clinical problem and turn it into a focused and answerable question, we can use the PICO formula.

PICO, or PICO(T), stands for:

  • P - Population/Patient/Problem
  • I - Intervention or prognostic factor
  • C - Comparison
  • O - Outcome
  • T - Time (added when there is a time component to the question)

Question: In [POPULATION], does [INTERVENTION] as compared to [COMPARISON/CONTROL GROUP] result in [OUTCOME]?

Keep in mind, you may not have all the pieces depending on your type of question, but it's a starting point.