PICO process
The PICO process is a mnemonic used in evidence based practice to frame and answer a clinical or health care related question. The PICO framework is also used to develop literature search strategies, for instance in systematic reviews. The PICO acronym stands for
Alternatives such as SPICE and PECO can also be used. Some authors suggest adding T and S, as follows:
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 search strategy:
