MC Library Research Guides: Nursing: PICO-T

Databases for PICOT Research

CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new window
CINAHL Complete is a comprehensive source of full text for nursing & allied health journals, providing full text for more than 1300 journals indexed in CINAHL. Includes indexing for more than 5000 journals and searchable cited references for more than 1460 journals.

To perform a PICO Search in CINAHL Complete:

Nursing Reference Center Plus This link opens in a new window
Provides evidence-based information for point of care, continuing education, nursing research, and more.
Ovid Nursing Database This link opens in a new window
Provides full text for 60 core nursing journals such as AJN, the American Journal of Nursing, and more. Users can also switch over to the larger Journals@Ovid database by clicking on the Change link to access and search the index and abstracts.

The PICOT question format is a consistent "formula" for developing answerable, researchable questions.

Population/Patient Problem - Who is the patient? (Age, Sex, Geographic location)
Intervention - What is the management strategy? (Diagnostic testing)
Comparison - Is there a comparison on control management strategy?
Outcome - What are the patient consequences of the intervention?
Time - What is the time frame?

Northern Arizona University
Example PICOT questions from Northern Arizona University
University of Toledo
Example PICOT questions from the University of Toledo
University of Virginia-Claude Moore Health Sciences Library
Examples of PICOT questions from the University of Virginia Claude Moore Health Sciences Library