The PICOT question arrangement as a search formula enables researchers to develop liable and researchable questions (Eriksen & Frandsen, 2018; Rios, et al. 2010 ). Once incorporated, the PICOT system ensures that the results become more straightforward ( Echevarria & Walker, 2014 ). The current PICOT search was limited to the PubMed and EBSCO databases. The purpose was to find articles that answered the question: What is the impact of lifestyle intervention (I) for obese women (P) during pregnancy (T) on maternal metabolic markers (O)? The use of Boolean operators, however, did not refine the search results. The rigor and effectiveness of the database search can be increased by rephrasing the research question to suit the circumstances.
The early stages of the searches did not avail relevant articles but the Boolean operators helped refine the results. The search for phrase “what is the impact of lifestyle intervention for obese women during pregnancy on maternal metabolic markers” brought up results for maternal metabolic and inflammatory markers combined. The results, therefore, were not exclusive of the intervention outcome. The Boolean operator ‘ONLY’ was then added to the research question. Nevertheless, no results came out after the search, which meant that in such a situation, the best alternative is to rely on the articles covering both maternal metabolic and inflammatory markers. Afterwards, the researcher can focus on findings related to maternal metabolic markers.
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The rigor and effectiveness of the research could have been improved by framing the question differently. Abbade, et al. (2017) allude that the use of PICOT system and is only suboptimal, which means that its overreliance may not prove inefficient. By rephrasing the research question, different results may have been achieved. For instance, focusing on related to the effects of the intervention itself instead of the health outcomes.
In conclusion, the PICOT strategy enables researchers to develop researchable questions. The use of Boolean operators helps refine the results. However, the PICOT system is not overly reliable, and researchers may need to formulate good research questions to increase the rigor and effectiveness of the results.
References
Abbade, L. P., Wang, M., Sriganesh, K., Jin, Y., Mbuagbaw, L., & Thabane, L. (2017). The framing of research questions using the PICOT format in randomized controlled trials of venous ulcer disease is suboptimal: A systematic survey. Wound Repair and Regeneration , 25 (5), 892-900.
Echevarria, I. M., & Walker, S. (2014). To make your case, start with a PICOT question. Nursing2018 , 44 (2), 18-19.
Eriksen, M. B., & Frandsen, T. F. (2018). The impact of patient, intervention, comparison, outcome (PICO) as a search strategy tool on literature search quality: a systematic review. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA , 106 (4), 420.
Rios, L. P., Ye, C., & Thabane, L. (2010). Association between framing of the research question using the PICOT format and reporting quality of randomized controlled trials. BMC Medical Research Methodology , 10 (1), 11.
