Remember, you don't need to enter all of the elements from your clinical question into the database search box; in many cases, information from the P and I of your PICO may be sufficient. Also, some aspects of your search, such as publication date, study type, age and gender, can be captured with the database's Limits or Filter feature.
Example: Does regular exercise reduce depression in young adult females?
Possible database search query: exercise AND depression
Set applicable filters for sex or gender, ages, publication date, type of study, etc.
The next three pages will show you database search examples for PubMed, CINAHL and Embase. As you work through them, you'll become more familiar with how to:
summarize a clinical scenario in PICO format,
derive clinical question from the PICO, and
determine which elements of the clinical question are best to include in your search query.
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