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Medicine vocabulary · History Taking and Examination

Complain of

Meaning in medicine, with examples

phrasal verbCommon term

In medicine, complain of means: To tell a doctor or nurse that you have a particular symptom, such as pain or tiredness.

In Turkish: ... şikayeti olmak, ... yakınması olmak, ...-den yakınmak

How it is used

Very common in notes and handovers: 'Patient complaining of chest pain.' In UK notes the abbreviation is c/o. It reports the symptom neutrally and does not mean the patient is unhappy with the service.

Example sentences

  1. Bed 6 is complaining of abdominal pain again. Can you have a look?

  2. She complains of tiredness and weight gain over the last few months.

Common collocations

  • complain of pain
  • complaining of
  • c/o
  • chief complaintThe main problem that made the patient come to see a doctor, usually written in the patient's own words at the start of the notes.
  • symptomSomething a patient feels and reports, such as pain, tiredness or nausea, that may show they have an illness. Doctors learn about it by asking, not by measuring.
  • present withTo come to a doctor or hospital with a particular problem or symptom; also used for the way a disease first shows itself.
  • take a historyTo ask a patient structured questions about their current problem, past illnesses, medicines, family and lifestyle in order to understand what is wrong.

More terms: History Taking and Examination

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.