Exam I Flashcards
Purposes of the medical interview
- establish relationship
- acquire information (subjective) to promote health and well-being of patient
Sections and Section Components of a Full Medical History
DATE AND TIME, ID (name, gender, age, source), RELIABILITY, CC, HPI (hloride-pac, medications with dose, route, name, indication, compliancy, allergies with specific reaction, smoking, drugs, alcohol - CAGE/TACE), PMH (child, adult, surgical, medical, psychiatric, health maintenance, OB/GYN - G(Pregnancies)P(full)(Preterm)(Abortions)(Living), FH (parents, siblings, kids - living status, genetic or chronic conditions, alcohol abuse), SH (sex, marital, occupation, exercise and diet, religion, access to care, support, race/ethnicity), ROS ( 4 questions per system)
ROS Steps
General Skin HEENT Neck Breasts Respiratory Cardiovascular Gastrointestingal Peripheral Vascular Urinary Genital Musculoskeletal Psychiatric Neurological Hematologic Endocrine
Steps for a successful interview
- Time for self-reflection
- review of medical record
- interview goals
- provider’s behavior and appearance
- adjusting the environment
Sequence of interview
Greeting the patient and establishing rapport. Taking notes. Establishing the agenda for the interview. Inviting the patient’s story and exploring the patient’s perspective (FIFE -feelings, ideas, function, expectations). Identifying and responding to emotional cues. Expanding and clarifying the patient’s story (pursue the 7 attributes of a symptom). Generating and testing diagnostic hypotheses. Sharing the treatment plan. Closing the interview and the visit. Taking time for self-reflection.
Active Listening
Process of closely attending to what the patient is communicating, awareness of the patient’s emotional state
Guided Questioning
- move from open-ended to focused questions
- use questioning that elicits a graded response
- ask a series of questions, one at a time
- offer multiple choices for answers
- clarify what the patient means
- encourage with continuers
- use echoing (no bias)
Nonverbal communication
- read the patient’s nonverbal clues and use these to gage how the patient is reacting to you
Empathetic Responses
Capacity of the clinician to identify with the patient and feel the patient’s pain as the clinician’s own
Validation
- affirmation of the patient by acknowledging the legitimacy of his/her emotional experience.
Reassurance
- identify and acknowledge the patient’s feelings
- make sure the patient feels confident that problems have been fully understood and are being addressed
Partnering
- be explicit about your commitment to an ongoing partnership/continued care
Summarization
- summarize at points what you do and do not know
- communicates that you have been listening carefully
- good to do at times of transition
Transitions
- make transitions clear to the patient during the interview to set them at ease
Empowering the Patient
- evoke the patient’s perspective
- convey interest in the person, not just the problem
- follow the patient’s leads
- elicit and validate emotional content
- share information with the patient, especially at transition points during the visit
- make your clinical reasoning transparent to patient
- reveal limits of your knowledge
Silent Patient
- be attentive and respectful, convey encouragement for the patient to continue, watch for nonverbal cues, consider changing your wording
Confusing Patient
- don’t get frustrated or baffled
- focus on the meaning or function of a symptom
- consider a psychiatric disorder or AMS and instead pause to assess mental status
Patient with Altered Capacity
- assess capacity to answer questions
- seek substituted consent to help with history/surrogate
Talkative Patient
- don’t show impatience or exasperation
- give the patient a few minutes to talk, listen carefully, be supportive, and then focus on what seems to be most important to the patient
- can give a brief summary to focus the interview
Crying Patient
- be supportive
- crying can be therapeutic
- ask if they need privacy if continues
Angry/disruptive Patient
- accept their feelings and allow them to express (without joining in)
- alert the security staff if necessary
- do not argue or appear confrontational
- stay calm
Patient with impaired vision/hearing
- impaired vision: shake hands to establish contact, orient to room, adjust light if needed, report anyone else in room
- impaired hearing: find out patient’s preferred method of communication, eliminate background noise, use visual cues
Patient with limited literacy or cognitive abilities
- low literacy: assess patient’s ability to read, explore why reading is difficult, do not confuse with level of intelligence
- limited cognitive abilities: pay attention to schooling and ability to function independently, important sexual history, can turn to family or caregivers for information
Patient that speaks a different language
- attempt to find non-family interpreter
- make questions short, clear, and simple
- speak directly to patient
- INTERPRET: introductions, note goals, transparency, ethics, respect beliefs, patient focus, retain control, explain, thanks
Three Dimensions of Cultural Humility
- Self-awareness: learn about your own biases
- Respectful communication: Work to eliminate assumptions on what is “normal,” learn directly from your patients - they are experts on their culture and illness
- Collaborative partnerships - build your patient relationships on respect and mutually acceptable plans
Patient ID
name, age, gender (occupation, marital status)
Source
usually patient, can be family member/friend, medical record
CC
in patient’s own words, what caused them to seek care
HPI
- provides a clear, complete, chronologic account of the problems prompting the patient to seek care
- amplifies chief complain and describes how each symptom developed
- includes patient’s thoughts and feelings about the illness
- pulls in relevant ROS (pertinent positives and negatives)
- medications, allergies, smoking, alcohol that are frequently pertinent to present illness
CHLORIDE-PAC
Character, Location, Onset, Radiation, Intensity, Duration, Exacerbating, Palliative, Associated, Conception/Concerns
Significance of PMH and FH
- a good PMH and FH is significant in helping you form DD, identifying risk factors for chronic or inheritable disease, providing clues that may relate to the present illness
Social History
- occupation
- smoking (pack years - packs per day for how many years)
- drinking (clarify)
- recreational drug use
- diet and exercise
- sexual history (intimate partner violence - StressAfraidFriendsEmergencyplan), clinical issues relating to sex and sexuality, common medications causing sexual dysfunction
- spiritual history
- access to care
- sleep and rest
- functional assessment (ADLs)
- relationships
CAGE vs TACE questions
CAGE: Ever felt you should CUT down drinking? Have you been ANNOYED by criticism of drinking? Felt GUILTY about drinking? Had an EYE OPENER to steady your nerves/get rid of a hangover?
TACE (better for pregnant women): Tolerance, Annoyance, Cut down, Eye opener
Techniques for gathering Social and Sexual Histories
- establish report (confidentiality, private environment, reason for questions, timing, language, least to most sensitive, allow for questions)
- common false assumptions (all pts are currently sexually active, younger or older are not sexually active, married person is not have sex solely with spouse, etc.)
Extended vs Problem Focused ROS
- complete: all systems (at least 10 systems)
- extended - all related to the HPI plus between 2-9 additional systems
- Problem Focused: just systems reported
Purpose of Oral and Written Medical Communication
- communicate information about the patient
- demonstrate clinical reasoning
- utilization review
- quality assurance
- medico-legal record
- coding and billing
- academic instruction
Organize comprehensive history and PE as written on medical chart
- Extensive history (id, source, reliability, cc, hpi, pmh, fh, sh)
- ROS
- Assessment/Impression of patients H&P
- Plan of Evaluation/treatment/follow-up
General Survey
apparent state of health, level of consciousness, signs of distress, height, weight (body size), dress, grooming and personal hygiene, facial expressions, odors of body and breath, posture, gate, and motor activity
Normal and Abnormal Pulse
- normal is 50-90 bpm
- abnormal: pulsus alternans, pulsus bisferiens, pulsus paradoxus
Normal and Abnormal Respirations
- normal: 14-20 per min (adults; up to 44 per min in infants)
- abnormal: bradypnea, sighing respiration, tachypnea, obstructive breathing, Cheyne-Stokes breathing, hyperpnea/hyperventilation, Ataxis breathing (Biot’s breathing)
Normal and Abnormal Temperature
- oral: 98.6, fluctuates (in morning, low, late afternoon, higher)
- rectal temps .4-.5C or .7-.9F degress higher than oral
- axillary temps lower than oral by 1 degree (less accurate, takes awhile to register)
Normal and Abnormal Height and Weight (BMI)
- BMI: weight(kg)/height(m2) or (lbsx700)/inches/inches
- if >35, measure waist - risk for diabetes, hypertension, CV increases if waist is 35+ inches for women and 40+ for men
- underweight: <18.5
- normal: 18.5-24.9
- overweight: 25-29.9
- obesity: I (30-34.9), II (35.0-39.9), III or extreme obesity greater or equal to 40)
Abnormalities of the arterial pulse
- small, weak pulse: pulse pressure is diminished, feels thready (dehydration and heart failure)
- large bounding pulse: pulse very strong (anemia, hyperthyroidism, fever)
Abnormalities of Heart Rate and Rhythym
- bisferiens pulse: double systolic pulse (aortic regurgitation and L ventricular failure)
- pulsus alternans: variation in pulse amplitude with alternate beats due to changing systolic pressure (L ventricular failure)
- pulsus paradoxus: exaggerated decline in blood pressure during inspiration resulting in negative thoracic pressure (severe lung disease, constrictive pericarditis)
Abnormalities of Respiratory Rate and Rhythym
- bradypnea: slow breathing
- sighing respiration: breathing punctuated by frequent sighs (hyperventilation syndrome)
- Tachypnea: rapid shallow breathing
- Cheyne-Stokes Breathing: deep breathing alternate with apnea
- Obstructive breathing: COPD, expiration is prolonged because narrowed airways increase resistance to air flow
- Hyperpnea/hyperventilation: rapid deep breathing
- Biot’s Breathing: ataxic breathing, unpredictable irregularity
Observations to make in skin, hair, and nail examination
- skin: moisture, texture, turgor, temperature, color, lesions
- hair: quantity, textures, distribution
- nails: growth, shape, thickness, color, texture, abnormalities (lines, clubbing, trauma, pitting)
Symptom vs Sign
Symptom: what patient tells you (subjective)
Sign: what you observe or get from labs (objective)
Sensitivity vs Specificity
Sensitivity: likelihood of having positive symptom if a particular condition is present
Specificity: if a symptom is absent, likelihood that you don’t have the condition
Lesions (type, shape, distribution, arrangement, color)
- type: primary or secondary, acne, vascular, purpuric, benign, malignant
- shape: round, oval, polygonal, irregular, annular, serpiginous, iris, polycyclic, umbilicated
- arrangement: disseminated, scattered or diffuse, herpetiformed, linear, serpiginous, reticulated, zosteriform
- distribution: isolated, localized, regional, generally, symmetrical, site of pressure, exposed areas, intertriginous, folicular
- color: cyanosis, erythema, skin color, hypo/hyperpigment, verigated, brown pigmentation, loss of pigmentation, pallor (anemia), yellowing
Cyanosis
- increased concentration of deoxyhemoglobin in cutaneous blood vessels
- gives skin bluish cast
Erythema
- red hue, increased blood flow
Icterus/jaundice
- skin diffusely yellow
- best seen in sclera
Induration
- hardening of an area of body as a reaction to inflammation, hyperemia, or neoplastic infiltration
- an area or part of the body that has undergone such a reaction
Turgor
- how quickly the fold of skin returns to place
Excoriation
- linear or punctuate erosions cause by scratching
Ecchymosis
- purple or purplish blue, fading to green, yellow, and brown with time
- variable in size, larger than petechiae, >3mm
- no effect from pressure
- often secondary to bruising or trauma, also seen in bleeding disorders
Hematoma
- central subcutaneous flat nodule seen in ecchymosis
Petechiae/Purpura
- deep red or reddish purple, fading away over time
- petechia: 1-3mm
- purpura are larger
- no effect from pressure
- may suggest bleeding disorder
Telangiectasia
- small dilated blood vessels on or near surface of skin
Macule
- small flat spot, up to 1cm (vs papule, elevated lesion up to 1 cm)
Patch
- flat spot, 1cm or larger
Plaque
- elevated lesion 1cm or larger
- often formed by coalescence of papules
Cyst
- nodule filled with expressible material, liquid or semisolid
Pustule
- palpable elevation filled with pus (yellow proteinaceous fluid filled with neutrophils)
Ulcer
- deeper loss of epidermis and dermis, may bleed and scar
- secondary skin lesion: depressed
Scale
- thin flake of dead exfoliated skin
- secondary skin lesion (seen in overtreatment ,excess scratching, infection of primary lesions)
Vesicle
- palpable elevation up to 1cm, filled with serous fluid
Bulla
- palpable elevation 1 cm or larger, filled with serous fluid
Wheal
- somewhat irregular, relatively transient, superficial area of localized skin edema
Nodule
- knot-ilke lesion larger than .5 cm, deeper and firmer than a papule
Exudation (dry vs wet)
- fluid leaking into lesions on skin
- clear, pus, blood, etc.