Exploring symptoms - Physical symptoms Flashcards
How would you explore the symptom of tiredness?
- What they mean
- Sleep - hours, quality, snoring/apnoea
- How it affects the patient
-
Associated symptoms
- Anaeamia symptoms
- Hypothyroid symptoms
- Depression symptoms
- Diabetes symptoms
What associated symptoms would you want to ask about in someone with tiredness?
- Anaemia
- Hypothyroid
- Depression
- Diabetes
What symptoms of anaemia would you want to ask about in someone describing symptoms of tiredness?
- SOB on exertion
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Chest pain - if angina
What hypothyroid symptoms would you want to ask about in someone reporting tiredness?
- Constipation
- Feeling cold
- Weight gain
- Menorrhagia
What depression symptoms would you want to ask about in someone with feeling tired all the time?
- Mood
- Early morning waking
- Anhedonia
What diabetic syptoms would you want to ask about in someone with tiredness?
- Polyuria
- Polydipsia
- Weight loss
What would you want to ask about in relation to someone having a headache?
- SOCRATES pain
-
Red flags
- Meningism symptoms
- Temproal arteritis symptoms
- Galucoma symptoms
- SAH symtpoms
- GCA symptoms
- SOL/ICP symptoms
- Trauma
- Associated neurological symptoms
What symptoms of meningism would you want to ask about in someone with a headache?
- Neck Stiffness
- Photophobia
- Fever
- Headache
- Rash
What symptoms of glaucoma would you want to ask about in someone with a headache?
- Visual blurring
- Red eye
- Halo around lights
What would you ask when asking about temporal arteritis as part of exploring headache?
- Scalp tenderness
- Jaw claudication
- Scalp Tenderness
What are red flag symptoms of a headache?
- Signs of meningitis
- Signs of temporal arteritis
- Signs of raised ICP
- Signs of SOL
- Signs of glaucoma
- Trauma
- Signs of SAH
How would you explore weakness as a symptom?
- Pattern of weakness
- Characterise weakness
- Associated neurological symptoms
When exploring symptoms of weakness, what is meant by asking someone to characterise the weakness?
Asking if it is constant, fatiguable etc.
What would you want to ask about when exploring the symptom of SOB?
- Current vs normal exercise tolerance
- Orthopnoea
- PND
- Diurnal/seasonal variation
- Associated cardiorespiratory symptoms
What would you ask about in someone with a fall when exploring what happened?
- Before - warning/circumstances
- During - duration, LOC, movements, incontinence/tongue biting, complexion
- After - amnesia, muscle pain, confusion/sleepiness, impact
- Background to attacks - previous, frequency
- Associated cardioresp/neuro symptoms
What would you ask about when exploring the symptom of a cough?
- Productive/unproductive
- Triggers
- Nocturnal
- Assocaited cardiorespiratory symptoms
What would you want to ask about in terms exploring the symptoms of sputum?
- How much
- How often
- Colour
- Consistency
- Any blood
What would you ask about when edploring the haemoptysis?
- Volume
- Frequency
- Fresh/altered
- Nature of associated sputum
What questions would you ask about palpitations when exploring it as a symptom?
- Fast or slow
- Regular or irregular
- Dizziness/LOC
- Nausea
- Sweating/clamminess
- Dyspnoea
- Associated cardiorespiratory symptoms
What would you want to ask when expploring the symptoms of diarrhoea/vomiting/constipation?
- How much
- How often
- Any at night
- Colour, consistency, contents (mucus, blood, bile if vomit)
- Weight loss
- Appetite/intake
- Associated GI symptoms
What would you want to ask about when exploring dyshpagia?
- Solids/liquids/both - which came first
- Constant/intermittent
- Progressive/non-progressive
- Odynophagia
- Weight loss, food intake
- Associated GI symptoms
- ALARM symptoms
What would you want to ask when exploring symptoms of dyspepsia?
- SOCRATES
- Associated GI symptoms
- Red flag symptoms
What are red flag symptoms of reflux?
ALARMS >55
- Anaemia
- Loss of weight
- Anorexia
- Recent onset progressive
- Malaena/haematemesis
- Swallowing difficult
- >55
What would you want to ask about when exploring symptoms of Vaginal discharge?
- Quantity
- Colour
- Odour
- Itching
- Associated gynae symptoms
What would you want to ask about when explorig symptoms of PV bleeding?
- Type - menorrhagia, intermentrual, post coital, post-menopausal
- Quantitiy - number of towels/tampons, passage of clots/flooding
- Pain with blood loss
- Anaemia symptoms
- Thyroid symptoms
- Chance of preganncy
- Associated gynae symptoms
What would you ask about when exploring sceondary amenorrhoea?
- General - weight loss, stress, exercise, diet
- Head - visual problems, headaches
- THyroid - heat intolerance, tremor, palpitations, diarrhoea
- Torso - hirsuitism, acne
- Abdomen - possible pregnancy
What would you ask about when exploring back pain?
- SOCRATES
- Early morning stiffness
- Sciatica
- Urinary incontinence/retention
- Faecal incontinence/retention
- Associated neuro symptoms
What are red flag symptoms of back pain to watch out for?
- Urinary/faecal symptoms
- Bilateral leg pain
- Severe progressive neuro deficit
- Decreased anal tone
- Saddle anaesthesia
- Weight loss
- Fever/Night sweats
- Immunocompromise
- Trauma
- Severe central spinal pain
- Deformity
- Early morning pain
- Worse with rest
What would you want to ask about when exploring symptoms of joint pain/stiffness/swelling?
- Worse in the morning - how long
- Better/worse with exercise
- Sleep disturbance
- Loss of function
- Associated rheumatological symptoms
What would you ask when exploring symptoms of Bone/tissue/joint injury?
- SOCRATES
- Stiffnes/swelling
- ROM
- Ability to weight bear
- Mechanical symptoms - locking, giving way
- Neuro symptoms distally - weakness, numbness, paraesthesia
What would you ask when exploring the symptom of a rash?
- Duration
- Progression
- Frequency
- Sites, size, shape
- Description - looks like; blisters; colour;does it blanch
- Secondary features - itching/painful, crusting
- Exacerbating/relieving factors - heat, sunlight, cold, allergies
- Associated rheumatological symptoms
