All evidence synthesis reviews start with a question. The research question will:
PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) is a common framework used to develop questions for systematic reviews in healthcare. However, many evidence synthesis questions don't quite fit this framework. See the sections below for examples of frameworks that are appropriate for different disciplines and review types.
PICO - used for systematic reviews of interventions in healthcare, but can be adapted to other disciplines
| Patient/Population |
Who is your review studying and how would you describe them? |
| Intervention |
What is the main proposed intervention, prognostic factor, or exposure you are looking at? |
| Comparison |
What is the current or alternative intervention? (no intervention, lower dosage of the same drug, placebo, surgical procedure, etc.) For diagnostic studies, is there another diagnostic tool to compare against? |
| Outcomes |
What measurable outcome is affected? |
| Example question: In patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (population), does adding physical therapy to NSAID treatment (intervention) reduce pain, inflammation, and progression of OA (outcomes) when compared to NSAID treatment alone (comparison)? | |
PCC - Used for scoping reviews
| Population | What are the important characteristics of the participants? (e.g. age, race, gender, role) |
| Concept | What is the concept or "phenomena of interest" that you want to explore? It may reflect the elements of a systematic review (e.g. interventions, comparisons, outcomes) |
| Context | What are the issues surrounding or influencing the concept? (e.g. setting, cultural or environmental factors, interests or experiences that are important or relevant to the population) |
| Example question: What is the experience of caregivers of autistic children (population) who have received language-based interventions (concept) in home versus school or other settings outside the home (context)? | |
SPIDER - Used for reviews of qualitative literature
|
Sample |
What are the characteristics of the group being studied? |
|
Phenomenon of Interest |
What behaviors, experiences, or interventions are being explored or evaluated? |
|
Design |
How is the data being gathered? |
|
Evaluation |
What are the measurable outcomes? |
|
Research or study Type |
What qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods study type is used? |
| Example question:
What are the experiences (evaluation) of healthcare workers (sample) regarding burnout prevention interventions in acute care settings (phenomenon of interest) as assessed by surveys or interviews (design)? Research type: qualitative or mixed methods |
|
