PICO is an acronym that can help you create a well-built clinical question by identifying the key aspects of a complex patient presentation.
Patient or Problem = hypertension
KEYWORDS: hypertension, high blood pressure, hypertensive
Intervention = telemonitoring blood pressure
KEYWORDS: telemonitor, telemedicine, MeSH term is “Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory”
Comparison = n/a
Outcome = improve blood pressure
MeSH term is “Blood Pressure” (but if you are using terms for “telemonitoring blood pressure,” this is unnecessary).
Timeframe = within one year
one year, twelve months (searching for timeframes can be tricky -- this won't find studies that were less than 12 months! If your results are too limited, you can try removing this from your search).
or if you search everything in a single line:
Want to see an example in action? Check out the video below.
PICOT example begins at the 3:00 mark.
"Table 1" is from:
Gallagher Ford, L., & Melnyk, B. M. (2019). The Underappreciated and Misunderstood PICOT Question: A Critical Step in the EBP Process. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 16(6), 422–423. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12408