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Athletic Training Program : PICO & PICOT Research Question

PICOT Format

PICOT is a framework for formulating a successful research question. It helps to narrow and focus your research question by clearly defining the following parts of your research question: 

  1. Population
    • What the primary problem, disease, other conditions present​
    • What are the important patient characteristics (gender, age, etc.)?
  2. Intervention
    • ​​What inventions are you considering as treatment options?
    • Examples: exposure, diagnostic test, prognostic test, therapy
  3. Comparison 
    • What are the alternatives to compare with the intervention?
  4. Outcome
    • ​​What do you wan tto accomplish for the patient?
    • How will you measure the effectiveness of intervention?
  5. Time 
    • What is the time frame for your data collection?

To learn more, visit the National Athletic Trainers' Association's training on using Evidence-Based Practice in Athletic Training. 

"T" may or may not be part of the research question.

PICOT Example

Example from NATA's Evidence-Based Practice in Athletic Training:

Patient Post-lateral ankle sprain, athlete
Intervention Ultrasound
Comparison Electrical stimulation
Outcome

Short-term goal: Decrease swelling, increase range of motion/tissue extensibility

Long-term goal: Return to play
Time 6 weeks

"T" may or may not be part of the final question.

References:

1. NATA. Evidence-based practice in Athletic Training. National Athletic Trainers' Association. Available from: http://members.nata.org/quizcenter/courses/ebp-level1-part1/basic.cfm