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Physical Therapy

Foreground Question

Foreground Questions:

Foreground questions are focused, searchable questions that can be best answered through evidence in published research studies. They seek evidence to answer clinical information related to a specific population, patient, or problem.

Using the PICO acronym will help you focus on the elements of your question, when it wants to answer a question focused on an intervention or therapy.  However, foreground questions can also be related to etiology, prognostic factors, or outcome measures.

The acronym of PICO translates to the following:

  • P = Problem/patient/population
  • I = Intervention
  • C = Comparison​
  • O = Outcome
  • T = Time (optional)

Why should you use PICO(T)?

  • PICO helps you form a more focused question that will return relevant results
  • It makes searches more precise giving you a manageable amount of results
  • Gives you additional ideas on new terminology and synonyms to use 

    • P = Patient/Problem

    What is the primary problem, disease or condition

    I = Intervention

    What do you want to do for the patient or problem?

    Is there a particular intervention you have in mind in trying out?

    C = Comparison

    Are there standard or alternative treatments that you can compare with to the intervention?

    *Not all clinical questions will have a comparison*

    O = Outcome

    What do you hope to accomplish, measure, improve, or affect? 

    PICO Example

    Example of a PICO question:

    Does hand washing among healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infections?

    P hospital acquired infection
    I hand washing
    C no hand washing, other solutions
    O reduced infection

    For Parkinson patients, are balance strategies an effective intervention for the outcomes of fall risk and gait speed?

    P Parkinson' patients
    I Balance strategies
    O Fall risk and Gait Speed

    NOTE: It is not required to include all aspects of your PICO search.  If your search is too specific you might be restricting yourself to a limited number of results in your searches.