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Medicine vocabulary · History Taking and Examination

Social history

Meaning in medicine, with examples

nounCommon term

In medicine, social history means: The part of the history about the patient's life outside illness: home, work, smoking, alcohol, drug use, daily activities and support.

In Turkish: sosyal öykü, sosyal anamnez

How it is used

Written as 'SH' in notes. Doctors record smoking in pack-years, alcohol in units per week (UK), occupation, who the patient lives with and whether they manage stairs and shopping. It matters a lot when planning discharge.

Example sentences

  1. In terms of social history, she lives alone in a second-floor flat and is a retired teacher.

  2. Let me ask a few social history questions: do you smoke or drink alcohol?

Common collocations

  • take a social history
  • social history questions
  • relevant social history
  • 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.
  • past medical historyThe section of a history that lists a patient's previous and ongoing illnesses, operations and hospital stays.
  • drug historyThe part of the history that lists every medicine a patient takes, including over-the-counter and herbal products, plus any drug allergies.
  • family historyInformation about illnesses in a patient's close relatives, such as parents, brothers and sisters, which may increase the patient's own risk.
  • risk factorAnything that makes a person more likely to develop a disease, such as smoking, high blood pressure, age or family history.

More terms: History Taking and Examination

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