Medical Glossary

Question 1

Activities of daily living

Answer 1

The basic elements of personal care such as eating, washing and showering, grooming, walking, standing up from a chair and using the toilet.

Question 2

Activity

Answer 2

The execution of a task or action by an individual. Activity limitations are difficulties an individual may have in executing activities.

Question 3

Agnostic

Answer 3

The inability to recognise sounds, smells, objects or body parts (other people’s or one’s own) despite having no primary sensory deficits.

Question 4

Aphraxia

Answer 4

Impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read and write.

Question 5

Apraxia

Answer 5

Impaired planning and sequencing of movement that is not due to weakness, in coordination or sensory loss.

Question 6

Apraxia of speech

Answer 6

Inability to produce clear speech due to impaired planning and sequencing of movement in the muscles used for speech.

Question 7

Atrial fibrillation

Answer 7

Rapid, irregular beating of the heart

Question 8

Augmentative and alternative communication

Answer 8

Non-verbal communication, eg: through gestures or by using computerised devices.

Question 9

Central register

Answer 9

Collection of large dataset related to patients’ diagnoses, treatments and outcomes

Question 10

Cochrane review

Answer 10

A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis published online in Cochrane library, internationally recognised as the highest standard in evidence-based health care resources.

Question 11

Deep vein thrombosis

Answer 11

Thrombosis (a clot of blood) in the deep veins of the leg, arm, or abdomen.

Question 12

Disability

Answer 12

A defect in performing a normal activity or action (eg: inability to dress or walk)

Question 13

Dead

Answer 13

Involvement of both patients and their caregivers

Question 14

Dysarthria

Answer 14

Impaired ability to procedure clear speech due to the impaired function of the speech muscles.

Question 15

Dysphasia

Answer 15

Difficulty swallowing

Question 16

Dysphasia

Answer 16

Reduced ability to communicate using language (spoken, written or gesture).

Question 17

Emotionalism

Answer 17

An increase in emotional behaviour - usually crying, but sometimes laughing that is outside normal control and may be unpredictable as a result of the stroke.

Question 18

Endovascular thrombectomy

Answer 18

(Also called mechanical thrombectomy or endovascular clot retrieval): a minimally invasive procedure performed via angiogram, in which a catheter passes up into the brain to remove the clot in the blocked blood vessel.

Question 19

External tube feeding

Answer 19

Delivery of nutrients directly into the intestine via a tube.

Question 20

Executive function

Answer 20

Cognitive functions usually associated with the frontal lobes including planning, reasoning, time perception, complex goal-directed behaviour decision making and working memory.

Question 21

Family support/liaison worker

Answer 21

A person who assists stroke survivors and their families to achieve improved quality of life by providing psychosocial support, information and referrals to other stroke service providers.

Question 22

Impairment

Answer 22

A problem in the structure of the body (eg: loss of a limb) or the way the body or a body part functions (eg: hemiplegia).

Question 23

Infarction

Answer 23

Death of cells in an organ (eg: the brain or heart) due to lack of blood supply.

Question 24

Inpatient stroke care coordinator

Answer 24

A person who works with people with stroke and with their careers to construct care plans and discharge plans and to help coordinate the use of healthcare services during recovery in hospital.

Question 25

Interdisciplinary team

Answer 25

Group of health care professionals (including doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, psychologists and other health personnel) working collaboratively for the common good of the patient.

Question 26

Antiemetic

Answer 26

Anti - nausea, vomiting Drug.
An Antiemetic is a drug that is effective against vomiting and nausea. Antimetics are typically used to treat motions sickness & the side effects of opioid analgesics, general anaesthetics and chemotherapy directed against cancer.