History taking

Abstract

History taking, if appropriately done, is expected to provide the most important information for reaching the correct neurological diagnosis. Usually the history is obtained from the patient, but if the patient is unconscious, demented, aphasic, or uncooperative, the history must depend on the information obtained from the patient’s family or accompanying persons. The information to be obtained when taking the medical history includes the present age, sex, chief complaints, the age of onset of symptoms, history of the present illness, past medical history, social history, and family history. When describing the medical history in the record or when presenting it at a medical conference, it is customary and convenient to describe the information in the above order, but when actually taking the history, it does not always have to follow this sequence.