There are 2 main categories of clinical research questions - background and foreground questions. Making a decision on the type of question that needs answering is crucial in helping you decide what information sources are relevant to your research topic.
1. Background Questions
-ask for general knowledge about a condition, test, treatment, or concept
-usually begin with who, what, when, why, where or how
2. Foreground Questions
-ask for specific knowledge to advise about clinical decisions/actions
-comparison of two or more interventions/outcomes related to a specific population, patient, or problem
-focused, searchable questions, best answered through evidence in published research studies
-division into two categories:
Further Sub-divisions of questions
Identifying the most relevant sub-type question for a research scenario helps determining which type of study (i.e. randomized controlled trial, observational study. etc.) will help to give an answer to the clinical question.
1. Therapy: questions relate to treatment to achieve a particular outcome; may scrutinize drugs, surgical intervention(s), dietary changes or psychological therapies; systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials can be used to answer these types of questions
2. Diagnosis: questions deal with identifying a disease or condition in a patient presenting with specific symptoms
3. Prognosis: questions refer to the progression of a disease or likelihood of a disease occurring
4. Etiology/Harm: questions relate to the causes of a healthcare problem or risk of harm from a specific exposure
5. Prevention: questions focus on the reducing the likelihood of a particular disease or exposure