The PICO framework is a way of formulating a research question in order find the most relevant evidence-based resources for making clinical decisions. It's a way of framing your search around the Patient (or Problem or Population), Interventions, Comparisons and Outcomes -- thus, PICO.
For instance, you want to investigate whether keeping dentures in a glass of water with effervescent tablets overnight results in cleaner dentures than cleaning them and storing them dry overnight.
The question, in the PICO framework, might be:
For denture wearers, does effervescent tablet wet storage or dry storage result in cleaner dentures?
Patients: Denture wearers
Intervention: Effervescent tablets (or alkaline peroxide-based tablets)
Comparison: dry storage
Outcome: Fewer bacteria on dentures
The trick is coming up with search terms that meet all of these criteria. Often, searchers only use the P and I parts to get started, especially if they're finding that there aren't many articles on the topic.
See if you can identify the elements of the PICO framework in the question below:
