Background vs. Foreground Questions

In the context of evidence-based practice and clinical inquiry, background questions seek general knowledge about a condition or a thing, while foreground questions ask for a specific knowledge to inform clinical decisions. 

Clinical vs Research Questions

A clinical question is the result of a specific patient or clinical situation, while a research question aims to create new knowledge or inform of gaps in existing research. 

Developing a Questions

Health sciences questions use frameworks to identify key concepts. The most popular framework is PICO. 

PICO Example:

Question: In adult patients with SLE, is consuming turmeric tea more effective than Plaquenil at reducing joint pain?

P: Patients with SLE

I: Turmeric Tea

C: Plaquenil (standard drug therapy)

O: Reduction of joint pain

Ethical Considerations

• Health sciences reference services seek to provide resources to clinicians as opposed to providing answers to clinical questions. 
• Bias can be unintentionally introduced into searches, mitigation strategies include self-reflection, open communication with users and diverse search strategies that address searching alternate sides of a question.