Differentiate diagnosis, prognosis, and plan of care in PT practice with examples.

• A. Plan of care describes interventions and goals; prognosis predicts the course/outcome; diagnosis identifies the problem type.
• B. Diagnosis identifies the problem type; plan of care describes interventions and goals; prognosis predicts the course/outcome.
• C. Diagnosis identifies the problem type; prognosis predicts the course/outcome; plan of care describes interventions and goals.
• D. Prognosis identifies the problem type; diagnosis predicts the course; plan of care describes outcomes.

Answer: (C)

In physical therapy, the sequence goes from identifying what is wrong, to estimating how the condition is likely to progress, and then to outlining the concrete actions and goals to guide recovery. The diagnosis is about identifying the problem type—what structure or system is affected and what impairment or condition is present. For example, recognizing a knee issue as a meniscal tear or patellofemoral pain syndrome sets the basis for understanding the specific problem.

The prognosis then looks at the likely course and outcome given the current status, patient factors, and the planned rehabilitation. It answers questions like how function and pain are expected to change over time and what factors might speed or slow recovery. This helps set expectations and informs how aggressive the plan should be.

Finally, the plan of care lays out the actual interventions and the goals to achieve. It translates the diagnosis and prognosis into a structured approach—therapeutic exercises, manual therapy, modalities, activity modification, and measurable short- and long-term goals tailored to the patient. For instance, after diagnosing knee tendinopathy, a plan of care might include targeted strengthening, range-of-motion work, and a goal to reduce pain to a manageable level and restore pain-free walking distance within a specified timeframe.

If the focus were misplaced, such as using interventions to define the problem or predicting outcomes based on treatment type rather than the condition, care would be misaligned with the patient’s actual issue.