P is the patient or problem
Who, with what condition, in what setting. Narrow enough to match the studies.
PICO questions, framed and answered.
Patient, intervention, comparison, outcome. Write your question that way or in plain words. Vero answers with every source linked and trial evidence graded.
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How to write a PICO question, letter by letter.
Four parts make a question specific enough to search, and to answer.
I is the intervention
The treatment, test, exposure, or prognostic factor you want to know about.
C is the comparison
What the intervention is measured against: placebo, usual care, or another option.
O is the outcome
What matters to the patient, ideally with a time frame attached.
PICO question examples, one for each type.
Each type has a study design that answers it best. Vero answers them all.
Therapy question
Does a treatment work?
- PPatient
- Adults with tennis elbow for over 6 weeks
- IIntervention
- Corticosteroid injection
- CComparison
- Placebo injection
- OOutcome
- Recovery at 1 year
In adults with tennis elbow for over 6 weeks, does a corticosteroid injection, compared with a placebo injection, improve recovery at 1 year?
Best design: Randomized controlled trial. Chance decides who gets what, so the difference is the treatment.
Diagnosis question
How accurate is a test?
- PPatient
- Adults with a suspected ACL tear
- IIndex test
- Lachman test
- CReference standard
- Arthroscopy, arthrotomy, or MRI
- OOutcome
- Sensitivity and specificity
In adults with a suspected ACL tear, how accurate is the Lachman test compared with arthroscopy, arthrotomy, or MRI?
Best design: Cross-sectional accuracy study. Everyone gets both the test and the reference standard.
Prognosis question
What is likely to happen?
- PPatient
- Adults after a first unprovoked seizure
- IPrognostic factor
- Epileptiform EEG
- CComparison
- Normal EEG
- OOutcome
- Recurrence within 2 years
In adults after a first unprovoked seizure, does an epileptiform EEG, compared with a normal one, predict recurrence within 2 years?
Best design: Cohort study. Follow people with and without the factor over time.
Harm question
Does an exposure cause harm?
- PPatient
- Pregnant women with epilepsy
- EExposure
- Valproate
- CComparison
- Lamotrigine or levetiracetam
- OOutcome
- Major congenital malformations
In pregnant women with epilepsy, is valproate, compared with lamotrigine or levetiracetam, linked to more major congenital malformations?
Best design: Cohort or case-control study. A harm can’t be assigned at random, so exposed and unexposed are compared.
Prevention question
Can we stop it happening?
- PPatient
- Adults with prediabetes
- IIntervention
- Lifestyle program: 7% weight loss, 150 minutes of activity a week
- CComparison
- Placebo
- OOutcome
- New type 2 diabetes
In adults with prediabetes, does an intensive lifestyle program, compared with placebo, prevent type 2 diabetes?
Best design: Randomized controlled trial. Prevention is a therapy question, asked before the disease.
Send a question of your own
PICO or plain words. No credit card.
PICOT, PICOS, and PECO, when the question needs more.
PICOT adds the time
T sets when the outcome is measured, so the answer matches your horizon.
P In older adults after hip fracture surgery, I does getting up within 48 hours, C compared with later, O improve walking independence T at 30 days?
PICOS adds the study design
S limits the evidence to the designs you want, such as randomized trials.
P In children with acute otitis media, I does a delayed antibiotic prescription, C compared with an immediate one, O change how long symptoms last, S in randomized trials?
PECO swaps in an exposure
For harm and causes, where nobody is assigned the exposure.
P In children, E is secondhand smoke at home, C compared with none, O linked to asthma?
PICO sharpens the question. Plain words work too.
Vero answers the question as you write it, with the same sources either way.
Framed with PICO
Four typed lines, one per part.
In plain words
One sentence, as you would say it.
Patient privacy, built in from the start.
Every visit is protected health information, and Vero handles it that way from the first word to the final note.
- HIPAACompliant
- SOC 2Type II
Audited compliance
SOC 2 Type II certified. HIPAA compliant.
No audio kept
Recordings are used to write the note and are never stored.
Never used for training
Your patients’ data is never used to train AI models.
Your retention rules
Notes auto-delete after 1 to 365 days, on your schedule. Multi‑factor sign-in included.
PICO questions, answered plainly.
What is a PICO question?
A clinical question built from four parts: the patient or problem, the intervention, the comparison, and the outcome. It makes a question specific enough to search.
How do I write a PICO question?
Name the patient group, the intervention or test, what you compare it with, and the outcome that matters, then join the four into one sentence.
What is a PICOT question?
PICO with a T for time: when the outcome is measured, such as at 30 days or 12 months.
Which study design answers which PICO question?
Therapy and prevention: randomized trials. Diagnosis: cross-sectional studies against a reference standard. Prognosis: cohort studies. Harm: cohort or case-control studies.
Do I have to write my question in PICO for Vero?
No. Plain words work. PICO simply helps you say exactly what you want to know.
Does Vero turn my question into PICO?
No. Vero answers the question as you write it, framed with PICO or not, and cites the sources behind the answer.
Where do the answers come from?
Trusted sources only: practice guidelines, reviews and meta-analyses, trials and other studies, journals, and drug references. Forums and blogs are left out.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. Every Vero plan includes Vero Evidence; Free has 10 actions a month and asks for no credit card, and Pro is unlimited.
Once the question is framed, keep going.
Literature review
The studies on a question, tabled and summarized.
Diagnostic evidence
Test accuracy and decision rules, cited.
Treatment evidence
The options for a condition, and the evidence for each.
Peer-reviewed article search
The papers that answer your question, without query syntax.
Frame the question. Get the cited answer.
PICO or plain words, answered from the guidelines and studies that apply.
Start asking free
No credit card required. 10 free actions every month.