title: Comparing patient characteristics, type of intervention, control, and outcome (PICO) queries with unguided searching: a randomized controlled crossover trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Translating a question into a query using patient characteristics, type of intervention, control, and outcome (PICO) should help answer therapeutic questions in PubMed searches. The authors performed a randomized crossover trial to determine whether the PICO format was useful for quick searches of PubMed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two residents and specialists working at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre were trained in formulating PICO queries and then presented with a randomized set of questions derived from Cochrane reviews. They were asked to use the best query possible in a five-minute search, using standard and PICO queries. Recall and precision were calculated for both standard and PICO queries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-two physicians created 434 queries using both techniques. Average precision was 4.02% for standard queries and 3.44% for PICO queries (difference nonsignificant, t(21) = -0.56, P = 0.58). Average recall was 12.27% for standard queries and 13.62% for PICO queries (difference nonsignificant, t(21) = -0.76, P = 0.46).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PICO queries do not result in better recall or precision in time-limited searches. Standard queries containing enough detail are sufficient for quick searches.
authors.affiliation: Arjen.Hoogendam@gmail.com
authors.forename: Arjen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoogendam
authors.forename: Pieter F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: de Vries Robbé
authors.forename: A John P M
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Overbeke
mesh_terms: D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics; D046650:Medical Subject Headings; D009426:Netherlands; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D039781:PubMed; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors