Defining a good research question using the PICOT and FINGER format

Definiendo una buena pregunta de investigacion usando el formato PICOT y FINGER

Jose Luis Villca Villegas jvillcavillegas@gmail.com

Universidad Mayor de San Simón., Bolivia

Roció Aracely Moreno Choque

Universidad Mayor de San Simón., Bolivia

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

In Bolivia, research is poorly standardised ^{1- 3}, starting with the research question that is reflected in what is described in the objectives of the study ⁴, in original articles or review articles, which are the two types of papers that must report their general objective in the last paragraph of the introduction section, which is why we want to introduce the PICOT ^{5, 6};and FINGER format ⁶, both internationally standardised, in books and scientific articles, focused on teaching research in health sciences, to generate good questions for research, and thus good scientific articles.

To highlight the following: if research questions are formulated using the PICOT and FINGER ⁷, format; the type of study, universe, sampling calculation, type of sampling, inclusion and exclusion criteria, study variables, statistical analysis and ethical considerations can be correctly identified, and similar articles can be searched to support the study that is to be carried out ⁵.

For all that mentioned, the following should be emphasised, the PICOT format ^{5, 7}, is an acronym indicating necessary elements that the research question should contain: P (Population: Helps to identify Universe and Sample) , I(Intervention and/or Exposure: Describes whether the research will be with intervention or observation of the study event.), C (Comparison: Identifies whether there will be two or more groups to be evaluated in relation to the type of study, not always mandatory to describe, especially in cross-sectional studies.), O (Outcome: Describes how the results will be measured.), T(Time: States the time spent on the research.).

Table 1 summarises the most frequently asked questions that the researcher should answer if using the PICOR format to generate research questions.

Table 1:
Picot format.
Fandino W. Formulating a good research question: Pearls and pitfalls. Indian J Anaesth [Internet] 2019 [cited 2020 nov 29];63: 611-6. Available at: https://www.ijaweb.org/text.asp?2019/63/8/611/264195

The FINGER format ^{6, 7}is an acronym that helps to elucidate whether the research question is: F (Feasible: indicating whether it will have the participants, human and financial resources and reasonable time to be completed), I (Interesting: the interest that the scientific community could have in the proposed study), N (Novel: new scientific findings), G (Good: enhances career/line of research), E (Ethical: ensuring that the risk to participants is low/acceptable, this always reviewed and endorsed by a team of ethics experts), E (Ethical: ensuring that the risk to participants is low/acceptable, this always reviewed and approved by a team of ethics experts) and R (relevant: for the improvement of clinical practice and the future of research). Table 2provides a summary and brief recommendations of the FINGER format.

Table 2
Main characteristics of the FINGER criteria (feasibility, interest, novelty, ethics and relevance) in order to formulate a good research question.
Patino CM, Ferreira JC. Developing research questions that make a difference. J. bras. pneumol. [Internet]. 2016 [cited 2020 Nov 29]; 42 (6): 403-403. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1590/s1806-37562016000000354.

Hopefully, this will open a debate about the importance of using international standards from undergraduate research to medical residencies and postgraduate health sciences ^{8, 9} in Bolivia.