100 Good Examples of PICOT Questions & Papers

The post below includes 100 Good Examples of PICOT Questions for NPs and papers in different subject areas such as diabetes, mental health, falls, emergency nursing, pregnancy, hypertension and nursing burnout.

PICOT question examples diabetes

1. The PICOT question components include: (P) Adults with type 2 diabetes in the primary care setting, (I) does diabetes self-management with education (DSME) program intervention help control patients A1c? (C) when compared to the absence of self-management or DSME education (O), there will be a reduction in A1c (T) within three months.
2. PICOT Question: In patients with diabetes type 2, how do inpatient diabetes management and education compared to outpatient care and education improve glycemic control over a period of 6 months?
3. Among diabetic children patients (P), how does adopting various lifestyles (I), compared to non-adoption of new lifestyles (C), reduce the risk of diabetes-related complications (O) for a period of one year (T)?
4. Among Adult patient with type 2 diabetes, does diabetes self-management education and diabetes awareness brings better result on maintaining a healthy lifestyle without diabetes complication and help to better control A1c?
5. In African-American patients suffering from diabetes type 2 (P), how effective is the use of insulin (I) as compared to dietary modification and lifestyle changes (C ) in lowering the blood sugar levels in the body (O)within one month (T) after the initial diagnosis?
6. In African Americans with diabetes type II, how does exercise compared to a sedentary lifestyle affect their quality of life?

PICOT question examples for falls

1. For community-dwelling adults over the age of 65, is a multifactorial weekly, group fall prevention program more beneficial than weekly conventional PT for improving scores on the Berg Balance Scale?
2. Among adult patients in the acute care setting would the implementation of patient-centered interventions be more effective compared to the usual fall prevention interventions in reducing incidence of falls one month after implementation?
3. In 65+ and older adults with a one-year history of falling (P), does family involvement through education (I) compared to care without family participation (C) decrease the number of falls and fall-related complications (O) over six months (T)?
4. For patients 80 years or older at risk of falls- as determined by performance on the TUG, 30 second chair stand, or 4-stage balance tests- is the Otago exercise program more effective than a strengthening program alone in preventing falls over follow-up periods of at least 6 and up to 12 months.

13 examples of PICOT Questions

	PICO/PICOT QUESTION EXAMPLES	PICO/PICOT QUESTION Description
	PICOT Questions Examples	PICOT Questions Example on workplace violence
	PICOT Questions Examples	10 PICOT Questions Examples
	PICOT Question For The Evidence-Based Practice Project	PICOT Question For The Evidence-Based Practice Project
	PICOT Question & Literature Search	PICOT Question & Literature Search
	Psychiatric Nursing Questions STUDY GUIDE	Psychiatric Nursing Questions STUDY GUIDE
	PICOT Questions Examples	PICOT Questions Example
	Grand Canyon Literature Review PICOT Statement Paper	Grand Canyon Literature Review PICOT Statement Paper
	NRS433V GCU University PICOT Question	NRS433V GCU University PICOT Question
	PICOT Question Template	PICOT Question Template
	Sample PICOT Statement Paper	Sample PICOT Statement Paper
	Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Final Draft	Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Final Draft
	Identify a clinical question related to your area of clinical practice and write the clinical foreground question in PICOT format utilizing the worksheet tool provided as a guide.	Identify a clinical question related to your area of clinical practice and write the clinical foreground question in PICOT format utilizing the worksheet tool provided as a guide.
	Strategies for overcoming barriers to implementing evidence-based practice (EBP).	Strategies for overcoming barriers to implementing evidence-based practice (EBP).

PICOT question examples emergency nursing

1. In emergency nursing, does changing patient triage and caregiver workflow as compared with the current model reduce patient overcrowding and decrease patient length of stay?
2. In Emergency Departments, does the Application of over-crowding indices compared to Raw ED volumes, lead to Prognostic accuracy for over-crowding related outcomes (increased error rates, ED length of stay, staff burnout), reliability, physician/patient acceptability, external validity.
3. In Emergency Departments, does Operational Improvement Interventions to Reduce ED Overcrowding and/or Overcrowding Related Sequelae, compared to Routine ED operations lead to over-crowding related outcomes (error rates, ED length of stay, staff burnout), physician/patient acceptability, external validity.
4.  In the emergency department (ED), how does a nurse-initiated protocol (NIP) for chest pain (CP) patients compared to no protocol use influence length of stay (LOS) in the ED over 8 weeks?
5.  In emergency nursing (P) how does violence prevention training (I) compared to no training ( C) affect nurses perspective of violence in the emergency room (O) within the first month of implementation (T)?

PICOT question examples pregnancy

Are mothers given cesarian sections in their first pregnancy more likely to experience uterine rupture during subsequent pregnancies when compared with first time mothers giving vaginal birth?

Is transvaginal ultrasound performed on expectant mothers more effective than laparoscopy  in diagnosing ectopic pregnancies?

In women experiencing their first pregnancy, do pregnancy-tracking mobile apps result in fewer unnecessary hospital visits when compared with self-tracking over the course of the pregnancy?

For a pregnant person seeking surgical abortion at < 14 weeks of gestation, is pain control with any particular method (I) safer, more effective and/or more satisfactory/acceptable compared with pain control with a different method or no pain control (C)?

The post below includes 100 Good Examples of PICOT Questions for NPs and papers in different subject areas such as diabetes, mental health, falls, emergency nursing, pregnancy, hypertension and nursing burnout.

For a pregnant person seeking surgical abortion at ≥ 12 weeks of gestation, is cervical priming with medical methods (mifepristone, misoprostol, or both) a safe, effective and satisfactory/acceptable alternative to mechanical methods (laminaria, foley bulb, dilapan)?

How do pregnant women (P) newly diagnosed with diabetes (I) perceive reporting their blood sugar levels (O) to their healthcare providers during their pregnancy and six weeks postpartum (T)?

How do pregnant women (P) newly diagnosed with diabetes (I) perceive reporting their blood sugar levels (O) to their healthcare providers during their pregnancy and six weeks postpartum (T)?

PICOT question examples hypertension

1. In overweight adults with hypertension (P), does changing diet and exercise (I) result in weight loss and reduced blood pressure (O) within a three month time period (T)?
2. Does telemonitoring blood pressure (I) in patients with hypertension (P) improve blood pressure control (O) within one year of initiation of the medication (T)?
3. Are patient education programs effective (compared to no intervention) in increasing patient exercise in the population of patients age 65 and older with high blood pressure?
4. Are 30- to 50- year old women (P) who have high blood pressure (I) compared with those without high blood pressure (C)at increased risk for an acute myocardial infarction (O) during the first year after hysterectomy (T)?
5.  In adult patients diagnosed with hypertension (P), how does home blood pressure monitoring (I) compared to no blood pressure monitoring (C) affect blood pressure (O) twelve weeks after diagnosis (T)?

PICOT question nurse burnout

1. Do nurses who practice stress management have lower levels of burnout compared to nurses who do not practice stress management?
2. For ED nurses, how does a nurse education program addressing coping skills for work related stress impact job satisfaction, patient satisfaction scores, and reduce nurse desensitization?
3. Among nursing practitioners (P), will encouraged retired professionals to return to the workforce (I), compared to not doing this (C), provide additional nurse aids to minimize the current shortage of nurses (O) within a year (T)?
4. Among nurses having chronic burnout, what would be the effect or impact of increasing the nurse enrolment compared to the issue of exploring retention strategies to resolve the nursing shortage that is currently affecting the United States healthcare over the next eight years? 
5. Among nursing staff in the emergency department, intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, and labor and delivery, how does proactive implementation of nursing staff education on burnout and depressive symptoms, assessment of burnout and depressive symptoms, and referral, compared to not educating or screening staff, affect burnout, stress recognition, and nurse turnover rates within three months of education and implementation of the interactive screening program for suicide prevention

PICOT question medication errors

1. For nurses administering medication in a long-term acute care hospital, does the implementation of Medication Reconciliation Timeout Process (MRTP) decrease the medication errors, compared to the usual medication practice, in one month?
2. In consideration of patients in acute units with dynamic medication needs, what methods are imperative in reinforcing the five rights and communication practices contrasted with increasing computer knowledge, lead to a decrease in mediation error events over the subsequent fiscal year.
3. In critically ill patients, does the integration of health information technology compared to conventional methods in the medication management process reduce medication errors during hospital stays?
4. In community dwelling adults, how effective is hands-only CPR versus hands plus breathing CPR at preventing mortality?

PICOT questions for icu nurses

1. In mechanically ventilated ICU patients, does positioning the patient in semi-fowlers result in a lower incidence of nosocomial pneumonia when compared to the supine position?
2. In the critically-ill patient (P), how does promoting early mobility within 72 hours of admission (I), compared with prolonged bed rest affect patient hospital length of stay (O) over a three month period (T)?

PICOT question childhood obesity

1. For Obese children does the use of community recreation activities compare to educational programs on lifestyle changes reduce the risk of diabetes mellitus?
2. Does parental obesity play a role in their children’s body mass index (BMI) in the ages between five and twelve years of age?
3. Will obese children in the community benefit from dietary and physical activity guidance, compared to having no nutritional or physical activity education, in a way that will reduce weight and health related concerns over the next five years?
4. Among parents of children aged 3 to 12 years old with a BMI of 85% or greater, does understanding parental perception of their child’s weight increase a parent’s readiness to change toward a healthy lifestyle management?
5. Will a change in policy directed at utilizing a tracking form for identifying overweight/obese children at a primary care center by its PCPs increase the identification of overweight/obese children?
6. Among parents with young children, early education about healthy eating and exercise, as opposed to education provided to parents prior to when that child is born could lead to the prevention of child obesity within 5 years.

PICOT question examples depression

1. Does aerobic exercise improve the mental health status of adults with clinical depression? Whereas, the patient population identified would be adults (male and/or female); the intervention of interest is the use of aerobic activity/exercise as a therapeutic component; the comparison interventions include adults who don’t apply physical activity/exercise as a therapeutic intervention; the primary desired outcome is treatment of clinical depression; and the time frame would ideally be long-term benefits
2. For patients on CABG waiting lists, does an intervention program consisting of presurgical home visits and follow-up calls from a specialist cardiac nurse lead to decreased patient anxiety and depression [when compared with no intervention]?

The post below includes 100 Good Examples of PICOT Questions for NPs and papers in different subject areas such as diabetes, mental health, falls, emergency nursing, pregnancy, hypertension and nursing burnout.

Good PICOT questions for nurse practitioners

• PICO Question: For young athletes (aged 13-30 years) trying to return to sport after arthroscopic hip labral surgery, is short-term PT as beneficial as long-term PT in returning an athlete to sport at full strength?
•  In women over 70 years old with knee osteoarthritis (P), is aquatic therapy (I) more effective than land-based therapy (C) in decreasing pain with ambulation (O)?
• Is body support treadmill training (I) more effective than overground training (C) for improvement in gait motor outcomes (O) in a 48-year-old man with left hemiparesis due to stroke (P) ?
• In (P) adult patients with chronic low back pain presenting to outpatient physical therapy services, does the (I) integration of strategies based in psychologically informed practices (O) better promote patient self-management (increase self- efficacy) compared with (C) traditional PT practice alone.
• In patients who are 60 years of age and older who have had a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, are there differences in clinical and/or patient reported outcomes between those having surgery for rotator cuff tear arthropathy as compared to those having the procedure for primary osteoarthritis?
• Is the Otago Exercise Program (OEP) or Tai Chi more effective at achieving clinically significant reductions in patients’ risk for falling with knee osteoarthritis (OA), ages 65 and up, and at risk for falls, as measured by the Timed Up and Go (TUG) assessment, 12 months following the initiation of treatment?
• In a 25-year-old athlete with a history of ACL injury, do deep squats or shallow squats impose less tensile and shear stress on the tibiofemoral joint and ACL?
• In patients who are 60 years of age and older who have had a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, are there differences in clinical and/or patient reported outcomes between those having surgery for rotator cuff tear arthropathy as compared to those having the procedure for primary osteoarthritis?
• In a child with cerebral palsy, is an anterior walker more effective than a posterior walker in improving upright posture (measured by decreased hip and trunk flexion), gait parameters (such as cadence, walking velocity, stride and step length, single and double support/stance time) and energy efficiency (measured by oxygen consumption)?
• In a 60-year-old patient with hemiplegia due to stroke, does distraction through a cognitive task, compared to focusing exclusively on gait during a treadmill gait training intervention increase affected step length?
• What are the health benefits of a community-based exercise and health education program for underserved Latinas?

Get additional information about PICO:

• PICO Tutorial from University of Washington
• Johns Hopkins EBP Question Development Tool

Worksheet to help EBP teams develop an question that will answer a clinical, administrative, or knowledge problem.

• PICOT Worksheet

This worksheet will help you build a PICOT question and identify keywords for your searchable question.

• Pubmed Clinical Queries

This tool uses predefined filters to help you quickly refine PubMed searches on clinical or disease-specific topics.