Question | Answer |
Disease process | what symptoms the patient has, how they have developed and over what time span |
Disease agents | what is causing the disease or affecting its progression (also called casual agents) |
Clinical interview | The GP will use the clinical interview technique which involves structuring the next question based on what the patient just said. |
What does the GP ask about? | - Persistence, intensity and duration of symptoms -Previous illness and treatment -Current treatment or medication -Lifestyle and occupation -Previous family history of disease |
Signs and symptoms | Symptoms are the features of an illness which are reported by the patient. Features of an illness that the observe (GP) can detect are called signs. Signs are objective, whereas symptoms might only be accessible by patients themselves. |
Appearance of the patient | The GP will observe the appearance of the patient, looking for signs such as pallor, evidence of confusion or anxiety/ noting whether the patient is overweight or has difficulty breathing. During the clinical interview, the GP is likely to be considering possible alternative diagnoses and asking questions that might help eliminate some of the possible explanations. The GP is also likely to look at the patients medical records in order to become familiar with the patients previous history of illness and treatment. |
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