Identifying search concepts

We can use these elements to develop our research question. It is important that your research question contains all of the PICO elements

Searching is an iterative process, you will usually need to undertake a number of searches before you fix on the version that is finding you the best results

When searching however we do not start with all of the concepts from the question

A very general rule is to start with 3 search concepts and then adjust after taking a look at the results. Start with the elements that are most relevant, this would normally be the I and the P components of your PICO

Searching is a discovery process - therefore the outcome element of the search needs to be considered as part of the appraisal of the search results, and not necessarily used as a search concept

From our example we could start with:

1. Exercise - I
2. Older adults - P
3. Depression - P