Evidence Based Nursing

What is a PICOT question?

• The PICOT question format is a consistent "formula" for developing answerable, researchable questions. 
• A clinical question with the PICOT format will help you focus your search and is essential in finding the best available evidence. 

When should you use PICOT? 

• In academia, when you are looking for evidence to support best practice. 
• In practice, when you have a question about patient care. 

Why should you use PICOT?

• Helps you form a focused question that will return relevant results. 
• Helps you retrieve a manageable amount of results. 
• Assists you in brainstorming keywords for your research. 
• Saves time!

The PICOT format is appropriate for questions related to the effectiveness of an intervention. The core PICOT elements are: 

• Population/Disease: The group of people that are of concern in the question. 
  • Examples: age, gender, ethnicity, with a certain disorder
• Intervention/Variable of Interest: Treatment or action that is the focus of the question. 
  • Examples: exposure to a disease, risk behavior, prognostic factor
• Comparison (if applicable): Any other nursing interventions.
  • Examples: could be a placebo or "business as usual" as in no disease, absence of risk factor, prognostic factor
• Outcomes: Specific effect(s) of the intervention or what matters to the nurse and patient. 
  • Examples: risk of disease, accuracy of a diagnosis, rate of occurrence of adverse outcome
• Time: The time it takes to demonstrate an outcome.
  • ​Examples: the time it takes for the intervention to achieve an outcome, how long participants are observed.