Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Evidence-Based Practice
Lecture:Definition and application of EBM
Phrasing the clinical question
Slide content:Phrasing the Clinical Question Background vs. foreground questions Background questions ask for general knowledge about a disorder Usually answered with textbooks and classical review articles Foreground questions ask for knowledge about managing patients with a disorder Usually answered using EBM techniques 14
Slide notes:14 The next few slides discuss phrasing the clinical question. One way to view clinical questions is to distinguish between background and foreground questions. Background questions are general kinds of questions that come up in the care of patients, and they are usually answered without using evidence-based medicine techniques. We look them up in a textbook or perhaps seek out a more classic review article rather than a systematic review. Foreground questions are those we ask when we need knowledge about managing patients with specific disorders and were contemplating a test or a treatmentthese are the questions that are usually answered with evidence-based medicine techniques.