"What's in a name?" PICO format in Research Title

My guide told me to write a title for my Research Project!

But how do I frame one?

Structuring a good research title is a key component for your final dissertation presentation or when you send the manuscript for publication.

It gives an early insight into what your study is about and on whom it was done, and it can also reveal the type of study.

The good news is… you don’t need to frame one very early on in your research process.

Sometimes, the title is written after deciding on the research question, methodology and procedure.

There are different formats for writing a research title. In this blog, I’ll take you through a common design that concisely denotes the research study; The “PICO” format.

The PICO format is a common way to structure a research question or title in evidence-based medicine. It comprises four components:

P : Population

I : Intervention

C : Comparison

O : Outcome

This title format is usually used for RCTs, certain case-control studies and cross-sectional studies.

It’s because these study designs have one study population, 2 interventions or parameters to be compared and one fixed outcome measure to study the effects of the 2 interventions or parameters.

The population component of the PICO format identifies the group of individuals the research focuses on. This could be a specific age group, gender, or population with a particular condition or characteristic.

The intervention component identifies the treatment, intervention, or exposure being studied. This could be a medication, a surgical procedure, a behavioural intervention, or some other type of intervention.

The comparison component identifies the comparison group or the control group in the study. This could be a group of individuals who receive a different treatment or intervention or those who do not receive any treatment or intervention.

The outcome component identifies the outcome or end result that the study is attempting to measure. This could be a change in a person’s symptoms, a change in a person’s physical or mental functioning, or some other type of outcome.

By organizing a research question or title using the PICO format, researchers can clearly and concisely identify their study’s population, intervention, comparison, and outcome. This can help ensure that the research is focused and well-defined and make it easier for others to understand and evaluate the study.

Still, trying to understand? Here’s an example...

For example, if you are a therapist who prefers giving IFT to reduce pain in patients with Low back pain, but your friend prefers giving TENS to reduce pain, this might make you curious about which intervention works better to reduce pain.

Let's say you want to perform a study on Low Back pain patients to compare the effect of IFT and TENS and to measure the effect of these modalities on pain.

So, with this study; (Considering that the study design is a Randomised Controlled Trial)

Population – Low Back Pain Patients

Intervention – IFT

Comparator – TENS

Outcome – Pain

The title will be framed as such –

“A comparison between the effect of IFT and TENS on pain-relief in chronic low back pain patients: A Randomised Controlled Trial.”

Rest assured, if you use this format or any structured layout to write your title, at least teachers won’t cross-question your title!

If you have any queries regarding your research titles or your overall research study, you can reach out to us at info@physiosimplified.com or simply drop a whatsapp message from the social icons.