PICO ANALYSIS

QOESTION
COMPONENTS
P-Patient or Population
Describe the most
important
characteristics of the
patient, (e.g. age,
disease/condition,
gender)
I-Intervention:
Prognostic Factor;
Exposure
Describe the main
intervention
(e.g. drug or other
treatment,
diagnostic/screening
test)

YOUR ANSWER

CHECKLIST
TYPE OF QUESTIONS

IDEAL TYPE OF STUDY

Therapy

RCT

Prevention

RCT>Cohort Study>Case Control

Diagnosis

Prospective, blind controlled trial

comparison to goal standard

Prognosis

Cohort Study > Case Control >

Case Series/Case Report

Etiology / Harm

RCT > Cohort Study > Case

Control

Cost Analysis

Economic Analysis

Note: Meta-analyses and systematic reviews, when available, often

provide the best answer to clinical questions

C-Comparison (if appropriate)

Describe the main alternative
being considered
(e.g. placebo, standard
therapy, no treatment, the
gold standard)
O-outcome
Describe what youre trying to
accomplish, measure, improve,
affect.
(e.g, reduced mortality or
morbidity, improved memory,
accurate and timely diagnosis)
Clinical question

 Pauline is a new patient who recently

moved to the area to be closer to her son
and his family. She is 67 years old and has a
history of congestive heart failure brought
on by several myocardial infarctions. She
has been hospitalized twice within the last 6
months for worsening of heart failure. At
the present time she remains in normal
sinus rhythm. She is extremely diligent
about taking her medications (enalapril,
aspirin and simvastatin) and wants
desperately to stay out of the hospital. She
lives alone with several cats.You think she
should also be taking digoxin but you are
not certain if this will help keep her out of
the hospital. You decide to research this
question before her next visit. Pauline

 Patient / Problemcongestive heart

failure, elderlyInterventiondigoxin
Comparison, if anynone, placebo
Outcomeprimary: reduce need for
hospitalization; secondary: reduce
mortality

 For our patient, the clinical

question might be: In elderly
patients with congestive heart
failure, is digoxin effective in
reducing the need for
rehospitalization?

UNDERSTANDING CHECK
LIST
What is the objective of the study?
What is the design of the study?
How many patients were included in
the study?
How many patients were included in
the study?
How are they grouped?

 What is the result of the study in

term of mortality?
How many death were found in
digoxin group?
What is the result of the study in
term of hospitalization?
How many hospitalizations were
found in placebo group?

 What is the conclusion?

What is the existing state of
knowledge on digoxin?
What is the gap in knowledge
that the study will fill?
What did the author intend to
do?
Where was the study conducted?