Systematic Review Questions
PICO is an acronym for population, intervention, comparison, and outcome. The PICO framework can help you structure your research question and identify keywords and phrases to use when searching for scholarly literature.
Here is a helpful article on formulating a clinical question:
Aslam, S., & Emmanuel, P. (2010). Formulating a researchable question: A critical step for facilitating good clinical research. Indian journal of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, 31(1), 47–50. https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7184.69003
The following examples of PICO questions are based on systematic reviews from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Among patients who have Parkinson's, (P) is speech therapy (I) associated with improved communication (O) compared to no intervetion (C)?
Example from:
Herd, C. P., Tomlinson, C. L., Deane, K., Brady, M. C., Smith, C. H., Sackley, C. M., & Clarke, C. E. (2012). Speech and language therapy versus placebo or no intervention for speech problems in Parkinson's disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (8)10.1002/14651858.CD002812.pub2
For patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (P), what are the benefits and harms (O] of using wrist splints(I)?
Example from:
Karjalainen, T. V., Lusa, V., Page, M. J., O'Connor, D., Massy-Westropp, N., & Peters, S. E. (2023). Splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (2)10.1002/14651858.CD010003.pub2
In patients with acute pancreatitis (P), is enteral nutrition (I) associated with lower mortality and risk of infection ()) than parenteral nutritional support (C)?
Example from:
Al‐Omran, M., AlBalawi, Z. H., Tashkandi, M. F., & Al‐Ansary, L. A. (2010). Enteral versus parenteral nutrition for acute pancreatitis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (1)10.1002/14651858.CD002837.pub2
Scoping Review Questions
The Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis recommends formatting your scoping review questions to fit the following frawework:
Population:patient characteristics
Concept:intervention or phenomena of interest
Context:geographical location, cultural characteristics, academic/professional discipline or more specific information about a setting.
To what extent are parents' (P) learning needs (C) considered in the context of pediatric occupational therapy for their children with sensory integration processing challenges (C)?
Example from:
Porter, Lane, S. J., Demchick, B. B., Sweeney, J. K., Mullens, P. A., & Kearney, B. E. (2023). Parents as Adult Learners in Occupational Therapy for Children With Sensory Challenges: A Scoping Review. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy : Official Publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association., 77(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2023.050078
