Define your Question using PICO topic urinary tract infection
P
Describe your patient, population or problem (age, sex, race, past medical history, etc.), the disease, or main topic of your question.
I
What intervention or action are you considering – treatment, diagnostic test, etc. Is there a specific issue you’d like to investigate?
M
e
t
h
o
d
o
l
o
g
y
Which research method (quantitative or qualitative) should be used to answer the study question?
If experimental, what research design should be used to compare the intervention group with the comparison (or control) group?
randomized controlled trial
cohort study
case controlled studies
case reports
systematic reviews
meta analysis
editorials/expert opinions
C
Are you trying to compare or decide between two options – drugs, a drug and no medication or placebo, or two diagnostic tests? (Note: Your clinical question does not always need a specific comparison.)
O
What is the outcome you’d like to achieve? What are you trying to do for the patient? Relieve or eliminate the symptoms? Reduce the number of adverse events? Improve function or test scores?
