Copyright © 2021 pubrica. All rights reserved 1

How to Formulate a Researchable Question

based on PICOS

Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, Pubrica sales@pubrica.com

Keywords

Clinical research, literature research, literature

research service, research project, research project

help.

In brief

One of the most difficult challenges a researcher

faces before starting a project is generating a

researchable question. Unanswered questions in

current clinical practice and interactions dictating

alternate treatments will lead to the formulation of a

clinical research question. It would help researchers

by giving them step-by-step instructions about how

to formulate a research question. It also explains

how to frame a research question using PICO

(population, intervention, control, and outcomes)

parameters (1)

. Finally, before starting a research

question, we evaluate the characteristics of a

research project.

I. INTRODUCTION

A researchable question can be challenged,

investigated, and analysed to provide valuable

knowledge about an issue. A successful research

experiment is determined by how well an author

formulates the research issue in light of everyday

research and clinical practice issues. The research

project’s fundamental issues provide crucial details

for determining whether the subject is appropriate,

researchable, and meaningful(2)

. A well-formulated

research question necessitates excessive detail and

precision, which guides the project’s execution while

identifying variables and the population of interest.

We’ll go through a clinical situation and see how

clinical problems emerge and how they will help us

with the facts we need to address our question.

Copyright © 2021 pubrica. All rights reserved 2

II. FORMULATING THE RESEARCH

QUESTION

Case

A 2-year-old boy with a fever and severe pain in

his right ear visits an emergency doctor. His mother

is concerned that he has been on the antibiotic

amoxicillin for the last two weeks, and he has a

history of chronic ear infections. She is worried

about the long-term effects of antibiotic use. She’s

still worried about the consequences of chronic ear

infections.

Because of its side effects, such as constant

diarrhoea, she needs to know whether an

amoxicillin prescription is safe or whether another

antibiotic can replace it. This case raises several

questions, which can be divided into two

categories: history and foreground. ―Background

Queries‖ are generic questions about a health

condition or illness. These problems usually

include comparing two objects, such as two

medications or treatments, or two diagnostic

processes, etc. PICO (population, intervention,

control, and outcomes) is a commonly used method

for framing a ―foreground‖ study issue [Table 1].

PICO

P: Population of

interest

Patient or the problem to be addressed

I: Intervention Exposure to be considered–treatments/ tests

C: Control Control or comparison intervention treatment/placebo/standard of care

O: Outcome Outcome of interest

Population or problem- Addressing a specific

population, its important characteristics and

demographic information. You may classify the

paediatric population with otitis media, the age

group, sex, presenting complaint, and experience

from the above example from the above case.

Intervention or treatment of interest- Treatments,

procedures, laboratory tests, and risk or prognostic

variables are also examples of interventions. The

intervention in this situation could be your

treatment strategy for the patient, including new

medication, a screening test, a prognostic factor, or

a procedure. E.g., based on your observations in a

clinic, cefuroxime is a safer therapeutic choice for

otitis media than amoxicillin. Still, you are unsure

about its effectiveness in paediatric otitis media

patients.

Comparator or control- when a new treatment is

linked to one that still exists

Outcome- The intervention’s result is known as the

outcome—for example, its ability to manage

discomfort. As a result, in the example above, the

effect may be pain relief, infection resolution, or a

reduction in the risk of developing resistance. A

successful primary outcome should be simple to

quantify, specific, valid, reproducible, and

appropriate to your research issue.

In a traditional clinical environment, a clinician

must be aware of context and foreground questions

based on their knowledge of a specific condition

and treatment. More background questions are

presented after history questions are asked. Medical

considerations emerge from a clinical work’s

central problems. For instance, determining the

causes or risk factors (etiological questions),

evaluating diagnostic measures based on sensitivity

and specificity (diagnostic question), determining

the best treatment choices (therapeutic question),

and the treatment outcome (prognostic question) (3)

.

III. IMPORTANCE OF PICO QUESTION

The PICO question is a different way of thinking

about clinical issues that emerge in health care.

These questions, unlike informational questions,

are very complex and can be difficult to formulate.

They are made up of particular elements or

principles that have a specific role in the evidence-

based process.

Copyright © 2021 pubrica. All rights reserved 3

IV. THE PICO FORMULA

The fact that this procedure is known as

formulating is no coincidence. When you ask a

PICO question, you’re building a formula that

accomplishes many goals (4)

:

Define the elements or ideas in the query to

help focus it.

Used to determine which publications in a

search retrieval better answer the query

Defines the principles that would be used when

running a complex literature search

Assists in determining whether the studies

found to answer the initial question’s

components.

At the end of the review, you’ll have all the

details you need to decide if the PICO action

can be applied.

A concentrated research question contributes to

structured research project preparation. It is not a

shortage of concepts that is causing the difficulties

in framing a study issue. The task is to transform a

novel research issue into a proper study plan, which

is the next step in the research question refinement

process (5)

.

V. CONCLUSION

A well-formulated research topic is a good place to

proceed when doing a good study or practising

evidence-based medicine. A clinician should use

the process outlined in this paper to formulate a

question and look for a response, and a researcher

can use it to create a new research project. The

traditional method is first to classify a research

question, then do a detailed literature review using

the PICO criteria. If the research question is well-

defined, it will lead to a good study design and

methodology. Finally, the findings are applied to a

particular patient group. In short, a researchable

topic points to truth rather than opinions and is

related to the ultimate purpose of the research

project (6)

.

REFERENCES

1. Amir-Behghadami, Mehrdad. ―SPIDER as a

framework to formulate eligibility criteria in

2. qualitative systematic reviews.‖ BMJ Supportive &

Palliative Care (2021).

3. Kruger, Stefanie Johanna Maria, and WENDY

PHOSWA. ―Association of TB treatment with

pregnancy complications: A Systematic Review

and Meta-analysis Protocol.‖ (2021).

4. Amir-Behghadami, Mehrdad, and Ali Janati.

―Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes

and Study (PICOS) design as a framework to

formulate eligibility criteria in systematic

reviews.‖ Emergency medicine journal: EMJ 37.6

(2020): 387-387.

5. Ridderikhof, Milan L., and Markus Hollmann. ―In

reply: PICO questions in systematic

reviews.‖ Emergency medicine journal: EMJ 37.6

(2020): 386-386.

6. Alkuwari, Hanaa I., et al. ―Intrinsic predictive

factors for acute and recurrent lateral ankle sprain

in active and athlete population: A systematic

review.‖ Middle East Journal of Family

Medicine 7.10 (2020): 228.

7. Pérez, Jeff M., Chiara Alessi, and Magdalena

Grzech-Wojciechowska. ―Diagnostic methods for

the canine idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: A

narrative evidence-based rapid review.‖ Research

in veterinary science 128 (2020): 205-216.