A 20 year old woman has a family history of breast cancer with both her mother dying of the disease at 29 and her sister being diagnosed with the disease at 31. What is the implication of this for this patient?
There is no significance of such a history
There is a significantly increased risk of this person developing breast cancer
The patient is at significantly increased risk of developing all types of cancer
There is no benefit in enrolling such a patient into a screening programme
There is no benefit in offering genetic counselling & screening
In discussions surrounding smoking which one of the following best describes “pack years”?
The total number of years that an individual has smoked for
The number of packs that a person smokes per day
A calculation used to quantify exposure to tobacco smoke in a standardised manner
The number of years that a person has smoked for before developing symptoms of a smoking related disorder
One pack year equates to the smoking of ten cigarettes a day for one year
In terms of history taking which one of the following best describes the role of the social history?
To identify risk factors for specific disease processes which may need further investigation / management? It also provides an opportunity to offer health promotion advice
To identify if the person takes part in any illegal practices
To enable an assessment to be made as to the type of person that you are dealing with
To provide an impression of how fit the person is overall
To provide an assessment of a person’s mental state
In the mnemonic PRQST used in history taking what does the ‘R’ represent?
Remittance
Relapse
Radiation & Related Symptoms
Refractory
Resolution
When considering a person’s past medical / surgical history which one of the following is an important consideration?
The accuracy of the diagnosis already provided
If the diagnosis has been made by a health professional
If the individual has any ongoing problems that are yet to be diagnosed
How the individual has been treated for the condition
All of the above are important considerations in this context
When recording a family history using a pedigree chart which one of the following best describes how you should illustrate how a female is affected by a specific condition of interest?
A circle which has been crossed through with details of the condition written at the side
An un-shaded square with details of the condition written at the side
A un-shaded circle with details of the condition written at the side
A shared square with details of the condition written at the side
A shaded circle with details of the condition written at the side
When recording a person’s sexual history which one of the following best describes the information that you should aim to collect?
Details regarding the patients last sexual contact
Details surrounding all of the patients sexual contacts including, the sex of the contact, the type of sex that occurred and if condoms were used, always, sometimes or not at all.
Only details of contacts that involved penetrative sex of any type
Only details of contacts which involved higher risk activities
Sexual history contributes little to the information required to successfully care for an individual and as such its importance is overstated
When undertaking a systems enquiry which one of the following describes the activity that you will undertake?
Reflect the persons history back to them to seek confirmation
Ask about symptoms of disease in each of the body systems
Ask the person if there is anything else that they would like to add to the story
Ask if anyone else they have been in close contact to is also sick
Ask questions to validate the previously given history
Which one of the following best describes the role that history taking plays in patient assessment?
Clinical history always need to be confirmed by clinical examination
Clinical history is of secondary importance to clinical examination
Clinical history is often misleading
Clinical history provides a primary guiding foundation when making clinical decisions
The best presenting clinical history is only available from the patients notes
Which one of the following needs to be specifically asked about when enquiring about a person’s social history?
Health of parents
Health of siblings
Any factors which may indicate low mood
Alcohol intake
Use of prescription medicines
