Starting a study? Frame your research question in the PICO format:
Patients (consider severity of presentation, setting, demographics)
Intervention (either something you propose or something in use)
Comparison (another group, the same group without intervention, or a benchmark)
Outcome (a measurement)
This classic format has been used to evaluate studies, as in Journal Club (by our esteemed Dr. Wilkerson), as a literature search tool, or by the Cochrane review.
Starting with a PICO research question can help you narrow your focus and maintain it.
