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.Respiratory Care

Research Guide

Finding Articles

Articles are found within the databases listed on the "Start Here" web page. Below, you will see direct links to some key journals available online through the library or open access.

The Library Search Box may be used to find individual journal titles that are available. If you have a citation from a bibliography, you may search for the exact issue and see if there are other articles of interest from that issue.

See how to use Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome (PICO), a mnemonic device to help formulate a clinical question and search strategy by identifying key concepts.

See a brief overview of subject searching for finding articles which is explained for specific databases under the "Start Here" left facet with video.

Four Elements of the Clinical Question - PICO

P	Patient/Population	Describe your patient or the problem of a group of patients - be specific
I	Intervention/Indicator	Treatment, cause, prognostic factor, etc.
C	Comparison/Control	Compared to another treatment or standard of care (optional)
O	Outcome	Improvement or negative effects?

PICO Explained

What are their most important characteristics?

primary problem
disease state
co-existing condition

Describe your patient specifically:

Sex
Age
Ethnicity
Socioeconomic factors

ALWAYS include this information (what is known) into your search.

What do you want to do for the patient?

Order a test
Prescribe a drug
Order a procedure

Other considerations:

Main intervention
Prognostic factors
Exposures

Always include this information that is known into your search.

What is the alternate intervention, if any?

A different drug
No medication
A Placebo
A different test
A different procedure

Optional, if needed for a comparison to the intervention chosen.

What is the outcome?

Accurate diagnosis
Relieve or improve symptoms
Maintain function

ALWAYS include this information that is known into your search.