Social history (medicine)

Updated on Feb 05, 2024

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In medicine, a social history (abbreviated "SocHx") is a portion of the medical history (and thus the admission note) addressing familial, occupational, and recreational aspects of the patient's personal life that have the potential to be clinically significant.

Components

Components can include inquiries about:

Substances

Alcohol

Tobacco (pack years)

illicit drugs

occupation

sexual preference (increased risk of various infections among prostitutes, johns, and males engaging in anal-receptive intercourse)

prison (especially if tuberculosis needs to be ruled out)

travel

exercise

diet

[Firearms in household} (especially if children or mentally handicapped persons are present)

References

Social history (medicine) Wikipedia

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