Hour of Clinical Evidence

Step 1 of 6

ASK (PICO)

Build a focused clinical question before searching for evidence.

🎯 Goal

By the end of this step, you will be able to write a focused clinical question using the PICO framework.

📖 Why is this important?

Evidence-Based Medicine begins with asking the right clinical question.

A good PICO question helps you:

✅ Search efficiently
✅ Find relevant evidence
✅ Avoid unnecessary reading
✅ Make better clinical decisions

📝 What will you do?

Read the clinical scenario.
Identify the Population.
Identify the Intervention.
Identify the Comparison.
Identify the Outcome.
Create your PICO question.

💡 How do I do this?

P — Population

Who is your patient?

I — Intervention

Which treatment or test are you considering?

C — Comparison

What are you comparing it with?

O — Outcome

What result matters most to the patient?

📚 Worked Example

Clinical Scenario

A 68-year-old man presents with acute ischemic stroke within 4 hours of symptom onset. The stroke team wants to know whether mechanical thrombectomy improves recovery compared with medical therapy alone.

Population	Adults with acute ischemic stroke
Intervention	Mechanical thrombectomy
Comparison	Medical therapy alone
Outcome	Functional independence at 90 days

✍ Your Turn

Complete the PICO template for your own clinical question.

Clinical Scenario

Population (P)

Intervention (I)

Comparison (C)

Outcome (O)

🤖 Your PICO Question

In __________,

does __________

compared with __________

improve __________?

📊 PICO Completeness Tracker

⚪ Population

⚪ Intervention

⚪ Comparison

⚪ Outcome

Overall Progress

0% Complete

💬 EviScore Mentor

👋 Welcome! Complete the PICO template to begin.

⭐ PICO Quality Score

Population ❌

Intervention ❌

Comparison ❌

Outcome ❌

Overall Score: 0/100

🔴 Start by completing the PICO elements.

📚 Learning Tips & Common Mistakes

💡 Learning Tips

Be specific when describing the patient population.
Clearly define the intervention.
Choose an appropriate comparison.
Use measurable outcomes whenever possible.
Imagine your PICO as a searchable PubMed question.

⚠ Common Mistakes

❌ Population too broad (e.g., "Stroke").
❌ Intervention not clearly defined.
❌ No comparison selected.
❌ Outcome written as "better" or "improved".
❌ Question too broad to search effectively.

✅ Good Example

Population: Adults with acute ischemic stroke within 6 hours

Intervention: Mechanical thrombectomy

Comparison: Standard medical therapy

Outcome: Functional independence at 90 days

📝 Complete your PICO

Please complete all four PICO elements before moving to Step 2.