Selecting the appropriate resource:

Background questions:  textbooks; basic science resources; and potentially Google searches to explore contextual information.

Foreground (Clinical) question: academic databases that include clinical research - primary research and reviews; clinical consult tools that summarize clinical evidence

Parsing the PICO to create a search strategy:

You don't need to use all of the elements from your PICO and/or clinical question in the database search; in many cases, information from PICO's P and I may be sufficient. Also, some aspects of your search, such as publication date, study type, age and gender, can best be captured with the database's Limits or Filter feature.

Example: Does regular exercise(I) reduce (O) depression (P) in young adult females?

   Possible database search query: exercise AND depression  (P and I from the PICO question)

   Set applicable filters for sex or gender, ages, publication date, type of study, etc. and run your search.

   Scan results, revise the search by adding or deleting terms as necessary, and rerun it.