Subjective assessment

How it is used

Also called the subjective examination or simply 'the subjective'. It covers the history of the problem, how the pain behaves, past medical history, medication, social situation and red flag questions. It is the S in SOAP notes. Physiotherapists 'take' or 'do' a subjective.

Example sentences

1. During the subjective assessment she mentioned that the pain wakes her at night.

2. Spend more time on the subjective assessment; the history often points you to the diagnosis.

Common collocations

• take a subjective history
• subjective findings
• do the subjective
• subjective examination

Related terms

• objective assessmentThe part of a physiotherapy assessment in which the physiotherapist observes, measures and tests the patient's body, for example movement, strength and special tests.
• assessmentThe process of collecting information about a patient's problem through questions, observation, measurement and tests, in order to understand it and plan treatment.
• red flagsSigns or symptoms that suggest a possibly serious medical problem, such as cancer, infection, fracture or nerve compression, which needs urgent medical review.
• SOAP notesA common way of organising clinical notes in four parts: Subjective, Objective, Assessment (or Analysis) and Plan.
• pain scaleA simple tool that asks patients to rate how strong their pain is, most often as a number from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable).

More terms: Assessment and Examination

• posture
• swelling
• palpation
• tenderness
• goniometer
• manual muscle testing
• outcome measure
• special test
• referred pain
• end feel