Examples of PICOT Questions

As a nursing student,  you will likely research a specific healthcare problem. Again, your professor may ask you to develop a PICOT question for this assignment.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

However, you may wonder what are PICOT questions and how you should formulate one.  Worry not, for we have compiled the best examples of PICOT questions that can help you in your research.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

Examples of PICOT Questions: Best Guideline

Definition of a PICOT Question

PICOT is an acronym that helps formulate a clinical question and guides your search for evidence.  As a result, it allows you to find the best evidence more efficiently and quickly.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

You can define a PICOT question as a format that helps to develop answerable and researchable questions for your study. Always ensure that you have an excellent PICOT question, as it makes it easier for you to find and evaluate evidence more straightforwardly.

PICOT Acronym

P-  Population/ Patient or Problem– Who is the patient, or what is the problem?

This element identifies the individuals or the problem on which your research focuses. In this regard, you should include the age, gender, and ethnicity of the individuals in the given situation.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

 I-  Intervention or Indicator– What do you plan to do for the patient/ population?

This element refers to the variables of interest where you may discuss the exposure to a disease or risk behavior. It may also include specific tests, therapies, and medication. Additionally should assess the kind of intervention you want to make, which may be educational or prevention initiatives such as immunization or policy change.

 C-  Comparison or Control– What alternative do you have to your plan? Is there a control? 

This element is a placebo which helps to understand a situation that is contrary to what you are investigating.  In this case, it may be a comparison with an absence of a risk factor or no disease.

 O- Outcome– What outcome are you seeking in your research?

This element helps to understand what the intervention aims to achieve concerning the given problem. For example, you may include the risk of the disease, the rate of occurrence of the adverse outcome, or the accuracy of a diagnosis.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

 T-  Time– What is your time frame for the research?

This element identifies the period the integration will take to achieve the given outcome.  Additionally, it may assess how long the participants will be observed to evaluate the efficiency of the intervention.

PICOT Question Categories

• Therapy/ prevention- What is the best treatment or intervention?

In this type of clinical question, you should conduct primary research on randomized and controlled trials.  Additionally, you can use systematic reviews In clinical practice guidelines as secondary literature to develop your PICOT question.

• Etiology- What is the cause of the problem?

For this type of clinical question, you can use cohort, case-control descriptive, or qualitative studies as the primary research. In addition, you can use systematic reviews as secondary sources while developing your PICOT question.

• Diagnosis- What is the best assessment or test for this patient?

For this type of question,  you should use instrumental development research as a primary source and systematic reviews as secondary literature while developing your PICOT question.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

• Prognosis- What are the long-term effects of this problem?

Integrate cohort and descriptive studies as primary research and systematic reviews as secondary research while developing your PICOT question.

Examples of Evidence-Based PICOT Questions

Before we highlight examples of PICOT questions,  let us discuss evidence-based practice. It is a systematic approach to delivering health care that incorporates the provider’s best available research evidence and expertise. You can also define it as integrating clinical expertise, patient values, and the best research evidence to make patient care decisions.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

In this case, clinical expertise refers to the accumulated experience, education, and clinical skills the health care provider possesses.  Additionally, patients may bring their own personal and unique concerns, expectations, and values. Therefore evidence-based practice compiles these factors to improve patient outcomes. (Examples of PICOT Questions)

Intervention PICOT Questions

• How does a given behavior’s frequency affect an intervention’s effectiveness?
• At what point do efforts to curb drinking become an Intervention?
• Why do people fail to follow through with interventions that benefit their health?

Specifically, the intervention PICOT question helps to frame the problem and identify the information you want to gather from the participants.

Example

1. In children with spastic cerebral palsy (P), what is the effect of splinting and casting(I)   compared to constraint-induced therapy (C) on two-­‐handed skill development (O)?

Therapy PICOT Questions

These questions are often short, open-ended, and used in counseling to help understand the patient’s issue. 

Example

1. In African American female Adolescents with hepatitis B (P), how does acetaminophen (I), compared to ibuprofen(C), affect liver function (O) within eight weeks of administration (T)?(Examples of PICOT Questions)
2. What is the recovery duration (O) for patients with total hip replacement (P)  who have developed a postoperative infection (I) as opposed to those who did not (C) within the first eight weeks of Recovery (T)?

Diagnostic PICOT Questions

These questions are used to determine the quality of the research thesis statement. In this case, it helps you identify if a topic is worth researching. The diagnostic PICOT question is often a long, complicated question that allows you to test your ability to reason through and answer.

Example

1. For deep vein thrombosis patients (P), does the use of D-dimer testing (I)versus ultrasound (C) result in a more accurate diagnosis (O)?

Prevention PICOT Questions

The prevention PICOT question aims to address the problem and presents prevention as an answer. For instance, you must identify the population at risk of a given problem.  Then you should determine how many people in the target population are affected by the problem and clarify the exposure’s effect on the primary outcome.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

Example

1. For adolescents smoking cigarettes (P), does the use of personalized counseling (I) reduce the risks of chronic respiratory illnesses (O) compared with group therapy (C)?

Etiology PICOT Questions

Etiology is a branch of epidemiology that aims to determine the cause of a given condition or disease. 

Example

1. Are kids (P) who have obese adoptive parents (I) at Increased risk for obesity (O) compared with kids (P) without obese adoptive parents (C) during the ages of five and 18 (T)?
2. Are 30-­ to 50-­year-­old women (P) who have high blood pressure (I) compared with those without high blood pressure (C) at increased risk for an acute myocardial infarction (O) during the first year after hysterectomy (T)?

FAQs

What is a good PICOT question?

Ideally, a good PICOT question covers all the elements of a PICOT question, including population or problem, intervention, comparison or control, outcome, and a time frame.(Examples of PICOT Questions)

What is the purpose of a PICOT question in a nursing philosophy research paper?

A PICOT question helps you to identify the most critical issues for the patient or population of focus and the intervention that can help to address the problem.

What are the five elements of a PICOT question?

•  The argument
•  The question stem
•  A conclusion
•  The reasoning intended to lead you to that conclusion
•  The wrong answer choice

What format should I use to write a PICOT question?

In_____ (P), what is the effect of_______ (I) compared with______(C) on_____(O) within____ (T)?

Does a PICOT question have to be in order?

Ideally, your PICOT question should be in the outlined order above. However, your question can be in a different order, depending on what you are investigating.  Ensure that you have included all the elements of the PICOT question in your research.(Examples of PICOT Questions)