PICO process

It was argued that PICO may be useful for every scientific endeavor even beyond clinical settings. This proposal is based on a more abstract view of the PICO mnemonic, equating them with four components that is inherent to every single research, namely (1) research object; (2) application of a theory or method; (3) alternative theories or methods (or the null hypothesis); and (4) the ultimate goal of knowledge generation. This proposition would imply that the PICO technique could be used for teaching academic writing even beyond medical disciplines. == Examples ==

Clinical question: "In children with headache, is paracetamol more effective than placebo against pain?" • Population = Children with headaches; keywords = children + headache • Intervention = Paracetamol; keyword = paracetamol • Compared with = Placebo; keyword = placebo • Outcome of interest = Pain; keyword = pain PubMed (health research database) search strategy: children headache paracetamol placebo pain Clinical question: "Is the risk of having breast cancer higher in symptom-free women with a positive mammography compared to symptom-free women with a negative mammography?" • Population = Women without a history of breast cancer • Investigated test result = Positive result on mammography • Comparator test result = Negative result on mammography • Outcome of interest = Breast cancer according to biopsy (or not) == Similar Frameworks ==

The PICO framework was originally developed to frame interventional clinical questions. PICO inspired other frameworks such as PICOS, PICOT, PICOTT, PECO, PICOTS, PECODR, PEICOIS, PICOC, SPICE, PIPOH, EPICOT+, PESICO, PICo, and PS. ==References==