Background questions
These questions are used to gain a better understanding about the health condition and to identify search terms.. The essential components of background questions are:
1) A question root (who, what, where, when, how, why)
2) A disorder, test, treatment
Examples:
- What causes diabetes?
- When might complications after stroke occur?
Textbooks, monographs, or web resources are good sources of answers to background questions.
Foreground questions
These are designed to ask about specific information for clinical decision-making and thus focus your search. Foreground questions are often asked in a format called PICO::
1) Patient and/or Problem
2) Intervention
3) Comparison intervention (if relevant)
4) Clinical Outcomes.
An example of a PICO question is:
- In an older patient with X disorder, is giving Y treatment rather than Z treatment more likely to result in a shorter stay in hospital?
Finding relevant journal articles, using bibliographic databases such as PubMed, CINAHL or Web of Science will usually answer foreground questions.