Answered By: APUS Librarians Last Updated: Jun 13, 2023 Views: 892
WHAT IS PICO?
PICO is an acronym used to formulate a strong clinical question that is also used to create strong search strategies for finding the best evidence. Use these steps to create and apply a PICO search strategy:
- Organize the concepts in your clinical question using PICO.
- Identify the keyword/s that represent the concepts to create a strong search strategy.
- Test the search strategy in a biomedical literature database, including PubMed or CINAHL. Check results for relevancy, adding additional medical subject terms as keywords as needed.
- Apply or remove database limits as needed.
- Review results.
HOW DO I USE PICO?
How to Perform a PICO Search: View this video to learn how to perform a PICO Search
7 Steps to the Perfect PICO Search - CINAHL: In this document, explore the importance or evidence-based nursing practice, take a deeper dive into the PICO process and provide an example of the PICO process in action through a case scenario.
Example
Clinical question: Does hand sanitizing reduce hospital-acquired infections as well as handwashing with soap?
1. Organize the concepts in your clinical question using PICO:
PICO | Concept |
Population/Problem= |
hospital-acquired infections |
Intervention= | hand sanitizer |
Comparison= | soap and water |
Outcome= | reduced hospital-acquired infections |
2. Identify the keyword/s that represent the same concepts to create a strong search strategy
PICO | Concept | Keywords & Medical Subject Headings |
Population/Problem= |
hospital-acquired infections | hospital-acquired infection OR cross-infection OR nosocomial infection |
Intervention= | hand sanitizer | hand sanitizer OR hand sanitizing OR handwashing methods |
Comparison= |
soap and water | N/A (Omit for comparisons against standard practice) |
Outcome= | reduced hospital-acquired infections | prevention |
3. Test the search strategy in a medical literature database, including PubMed or CINAHL.
4. Check results for relevancy, adding additional medical subject terms as keywords as needed. Apply or remove database limits as needed. For a comprehensive search, remove the full-text limit.
5. Review results.
See Also:
Nursing Research Guide: See this guide to learn more about evidence-based practice and nursing resources.
For more help using PICO using specific databases:
search
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