To formulate a clinical question, use the PICO format.
PICO or PICOT stands for the following:
| P | Patient or Problem |
| I | Intervention |
| C | Comparison |
| O | Outcome |
| T | Time (optional) |
Different types of questions are answered best by different types of studies.
The following table will help you identify the best studies for your clinical question.
| Question Type | Best Type of Study |
| Treatment | Systematic Review / RCT |
| Diagnosis | Systematic Review / Cross-sectional |
| Etiology / Harm | Systematic Review / Cohort / Case-control |
| Prognosis | Systematic Review / Cohort |
View definitions for these study types in the Glossary.
