Evidence Based Practice by Elaine Cox

P I C O

     P -- patient, population, participant, problem (diagnosis)
     I -- intervention, therapy, treatment
     C -- comparison  (not always required)
     O -- outcome

P I C O T

     P -- patient, population, participant, problem (diagnosis)
     I -- intervention, therapy, treatment
     C -- comparison  (not always required)
     O -- outcome
     T  -- time

P I C O (T)

     P -- patient, population, participant, problem (diagnosis)
     I -- intervention, therapy, treatment
     C -- comparison  (not always required)
     O -- outcome
     T  -- type of studies or questions

P I C O T T

     P -- patient, population, participant, problem (diagnosis)
     I -- intervention, therapy, treatment
     C -- comparison  (not always required)
     O -- outcome
     T  -- type of question 
              (therapy/treatment, diagnosis, prognosis, harm/etiology)
     T  -- type of study 
              (research method/design)

 5 Types of PICO Questions

     1. Diagnosis
     2. Therapy (treatment / intervention)
     3. Etiology (cause)
     4. Prognosis (future / forecast)
     5. Prevention

Diagnosis PICO:
In children with respiratory infection, is the respiratory rate as effective as chest x-ray in detecting pneumonia?

Prognosis PICO:
In premature infants (compared to full-term infants), what is the lifetime prevalence of hearing deficit?
 
Therapy PICO:
In patients with recurrent infection, do antibiotics, compared to no treatment, reduce recurrence rate?
 
Etiology PICO:
In post-menopausal women, does hormone replacement therapy increase the risk of breast cancer?