Search Guides
NHM 114: Introduction to Nutrition Professionals
Searching for information
The primary databases we will be using include
- PubMed
- Cochrane Database
- CINAHL
But before we get started, let's learn about how to create a strategy for finding relevant information using the PICO method.
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CINAHL Plus with Full Text This link opens in a new window
CINAHL Plus with Full Text is the world's most comprehensive source for nursing and allied health journals, providing full text for more than 770 journals indexed in CINAHL.
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Cochrane Library This link opens in a new window
Includes reliable evidence from Cochrane and other systematic reviews, clinical trials, and results of the worlds best medical research studies. The Cochrane Reviews are provided in full text.
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MEDLINE (via PubMed) This link opens in a new window
National Library of Medicine's premier database in the life sciences, with a concentration in biomedicine
What does PICO mean?
PICO
The first stage of any evidence-based practice process is formulating an answerable question. This forms the foundation for quality searching. A well-formulated question will facilitate the search for evidence and will assist you in determining whether the evidence is relevant to your question.
An answerable question has a format that follows the PICO concept. The acronym translates to:
- P – Populations/People/Patient/Problem
- I – Intervention(s)
- C – Comparison
- O – Outcome
Before you start your search, it is important to have a well-built question.
| Patient/Population | Intervention | Comparison | Outcomes |
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Who is your patient?
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What do you plan on doing for the patient?
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What alternative are you considering?
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What do wish to accomplish?
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Example: Is adherence to the Mediterranean Diet associated with reduced risk of heart attack?
| Patient/Population | Intervention | Comparison | Outcomes |
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When you search the databases, you may not use all these terms in your search. For instance, you may start out using only the terms Mediterranean Diet and heart attacks.
- If you retrieve too many results, add more terms to your search, or add more specific terms.
- If you retrieve too few results, use fewer or more broad terms.