Importance of case history in disease diagnosis as perceived by medicos


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Article type :

Original Article

Author :

K. Indu, N. S. Sanjeeva Rao

Volume :

7

Issue :

2

Abstract :

Introduction: History taking is an important tool available to the medical student to make a reasonable working diagnosis. The process of clinical reasoning helps give a comprehensive view of the patient’s needs and aids in patient centered care. Results: Though 43.9% of the medicos strongly agreed that diagnosis is an important function of a doctor, only 18.3 % of the men and 10.6 % of the women were convinced that a good diagnosis was possible with case taking alone. Overall, only 7.3 % felt confident in taking a good history. Discussion: The current study shows that history taking and physical examination is taking a lesser role in diagnosis. Communication with the patient is also seen as not necessary. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study involves 164 medicos (110 final years and 54 interns) who were administered a predetermined questionnaire. Findings were subjected to tests of significance like Chi square at 5% Level of significance. To identify the importance given to history taking in disease diagnosis among medicos. Conclusion: Undergraduate medical education must ensure training in communication, proper history taking and good examination skills. Small-group skills workshops using role-plays followed by effective feedback are ways to certifiable training in medical colleges.

Keyword :

History taking, Physical examination, Medicos, Interns, Communication