About PICO search
PICO search is a controlled vocabulary search tool in Cochrane Library. It currently searches Cochrane intervention reviews.
What is PICO?
PICO is widely used in evidence-based healthcare to formulate questions and to develop search strategies.
Cochrane’s PICO search helps you find Cochrane Reviews by specifying any of four potential components of a healthcare question:
- Population (or Patient or Problem)
- What are the characteristics of the patient or population – for example condition or age?
- Intervention
- What is the intervention under consideration for this patient or population – for example a drug or surgical intervention
- Comparison
- What is the alternative to the intervention – for example a different drug or a placebo?
- Outcome
- What are the relevant outcomes – for example quality of life or adverse events?
What is PICO search?
Cochrane's information specialists and other experts have described the PICO components in our reviews using controlled vocabulary terms. PICO search allows you to use those same terms to find reviews most relevant to your PICO questions.
For example, the term "Diabetes Mellitus" is cited in Cochrane Reviews in some cases as a Population term, and in some other cases as an Outcome term. PICO search allows you to search only on the PICO context that you are interested in.
The PICO description of Cochrane intervention reviews is an ongoing process as Cochrane Reviews are added or updated. Our aim is to keep current with all intervention reviews published or updated since 2015.
Last updated: Nov 30, 2021
