Medical history taking
From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
In health care, the medical history taking is a systematic and thorough interview of the patient for symptoms and risk factors of disease or abnormality as well as relevant psychosocial factors that might affect the expression of treatment of disease.[1]
The medical history taking complements information gathered in the physical examination and is an important part of the physician-patient relationship. The medical history contributes more to diagnosis than does the physical examination.[2][3][4]
Soliciting the patient's narrative may be more effective than asking closed ended questions.[5]
References
- ↑ Anonymous, (2009) Medical history taking (English). Medical Subject Headings. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ↑ Peterson MC, Holbrook JH, Von Hales D, Smith NL, Staker LV (February 1992). "Contributions of the history, physical examination, and laboratory investigation in making medical diagnoses". West. J. Med. 156 (2): 163–5. PMID 1536065. PMC 1003190.
- ↑ Hampton JR, Harrison MJ, Mitchell JR, Prichard JS, Seymour C (May 1975). "Relative contributions of history-taking, physical examination, and laboratory investigation to diagnosis and management of medical outpatients". Br Med J 2 (5969): 486–9. PMID 1148666. PMC 1673456.
- ↑ Sandler G (July 1979). "Costs of unnecessary tests". Br Med J 2 (6181): 21–4. PMID 466256. PMC 1595755.
- ↑ Haidet P, Paterniti DA (May 2003). "Building" a history rather than "taking" one: a perspective on information sharing during the medical interview. Arch. Intern. Med. 163 (10): 1134–40. DOI:10.1001/archinte.163.10.1134. PMID 12767949.
External links
- The Rational Clinical Examination Series. This is a series of systematic reviews published in the Journal of the American Medical Association of topics in medical history taking and physical examination.
