Q. I have to do PICO research. What is PICO?

PICO describes the four elements of a good clinical foreground question:

P = Population/Patient/Problem - How would I describe the problem or a group of patients similar to mine?

I = Intervention - What main intervention, prognostic factor or exposure am I considering?

C = Comparison - Is there an alternative to compare with the intervention?

O = Outcome - What do I hope to accomplish, measure, improve or affect?

For more information about developing a PICO question and how to do PICO research see the "Development of PICO" page in the Writing in the Health Sciences LibGuide here: https://libguides.hofstra.edu/WritingInTheHealthSciences/PICO