Chronic Illnesses & Problem Solving Flashcards
what is a chronic illness?.
Persistent diseases that do not lead to early death constitute an important group of health problems. Sufferers may endure multiple handicaps that affect physical, social and psychological well-being
why are people with chronic illnesses a burden on the NHS?
price of prescriptions
more complications
more GP visits
what is incidence ?
number of new cases per year
what is prevalence ?
number of existing cases
is the incidence of chronic illnesses increasing or decreasing ?
increasing
- the incidence is greater then the prevalence
define pathophysiology
the pathological basis of the underlying disease process
define clinical disease
manifestation of signs and symptoms
define illness episode
the time between the onset and the offset of illness
define response
a pattern of decreasing symptoms and signs which indicate decrease in severity of the disease
define recovery
sustained period of health that follows an episode of illness
symptoms don’t need further investigation
define remission
a period following an episode of illness when signs and symptoms have decreased in severity but the symptoms may still need to be investigated
define relapse
reinstatement of signs or symptoms following an episode of illness
define recurrence
reinstatement of a new episode of illness after a period of remission
what is activity limitation ?
restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in a manner which would be considered normal
state three factors which can be risk factors for chronic illnesses
- genetic
- environmental
- social
define vulnerability
An individual’s capacity to resist disease, repair damage and restore physiological homeostasis.
what impact can a chronic illness have on the individual?
self pit
apathy
denial
what impact can a chronic illness have on the family?
financial
emotional
other family members can become ill
what impact can a chronic illness have on the individual from the community ?
isolation
can’t precipitate in social activities
give an example of an illness which has an acute onset?
stroke
give an example of an illness which has a gradual onset?
angina
how are chronic illnesses treated ?
aim management at
- disease
- symptoms
patient has to understand their illness is chronic
- this can be difficult
what are the three main types of problem solving types ?
→ Pattern recognition
→ Hypothetico-deductive reasoning
→ Inductive reasoning
what is pattern recognition problem solving?
recognising a pattern which almost always indicates a particular cause
what is hypothetico-deductive reasoning ?
when the doctor thinks of several differential diagnoses
- thinks about the likely diagnosis not the most common diagnosis
what is pay off?
at disproportionate attention to curable illnesses in the early stage compared to chronic illnesses
- meningitis has a high pay off
- MS has a low pay off
What is inductive reasoning?
having no differential diagnoses from the beginning and going through a whole history to try find out crucial information
what problem solving technique is used most by GPs?
hypothetico-ductive reasoning
give a pro and con of inductive reasoning ?
pro = less likely to miss things con = time consuming
