Okuzeka
Medicine vocabulary · Diagnosis and Tests

Prognosis

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/prɑːɡˈnoʊsɪs/nounCommon term

In medicine, prognosis means: A doctor's opinion about how an illness is likely to develop and what the chances of recovery or survival are.

In Turkish: prognoz, seyir, hastalığın gidişatı

How it is used

Described as good, poor, guarded or excellent. Doctors discuss prognosis with patients and families, often in difficult conversations. The adjective is prognostic, as in 'prognostic factors'.

Example sentences

  1. With early treatment, the prognosis is excellent.

  2. The family asked us about his prognosis after the second stroke.

Common collocations

  • good prognosis
  • poor prognosis
  • guarded prognosis
  • prognostic factors
  • diagnosisThe decision about which disease or condition is causing a patient's problems, reached after taking a history, examining the patient and doing tests.
  • break bad newsTo tell a patient or family difficult information, such as a serious diagnosis or a death, in a careful, honest and kind way.
  • malignantCancerous, and able to grow into nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body; also used for conditions that are very dangerous.
  • chronicLasting a long time, usually more than three months, or coming back again and again; used for diseases that are controlled rather than cured.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Diagnosis and Tests

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