Differential diagnosis chapter 1 for physical therapy students

1. Interview Process

2. • Interviewing is an important skill for the clinician to
learn.
• Questioning the client may also assist the therapist in
determining whether an injury is in:
– Acute
– Sub acute
– Chronic stage

3. • Medical practitioners begin the interview by
determining the client's chief complaint.
• The chief complaint is usually a symptomatic
description by the client.
• Information from the interview guides the
clinician in addressing the underlying pathology.

4. • The interview format provides detailed information
regarding chief complain:
– Frequency
– Duration
– Intensity
– Length
– Breadth
– Depth
– Anatomic location

5. • The physical therapist will later correlate this
information with objective findings from the
examination to rule out possible systemic
origin of symptoms.

6. Concepts in Communication
• Interviewing is a skill that requires careful
nurturing and refinement over time.
• Telescoping:
– Forget, underreport, or combine separate health
events into a single memory.

7. Compassion and Caring
• Compassion:
– The desire to identify with or sense something of
another's experience.
– A precursor of caring.
• Caring
– The concern, empathy, and consideration for the needs
and values of others.

8. • Aware of your own body language.
• Sit down when obtaining the history and keep an
appropriate social distance from the client.
• Silence is also a key feature in the communication and
interviewing process.
• Silent attentiveness gives the client time to think or
organize his or her thoughts.
• Silence can give the therapist time to observe the client
and plan the next question or step.

9. Communication Styles
• Relying on one interviewing style may not be
adequate for all situations.
– Gender-based styles
– Temperament/ personality-based styles.
• There is a wide range of ethnic identifications,
religions, socioeconomic differences, beliefs, and
behaviors for both the therapist and the client.

10. • Interactive Style:
– Body language
– Tone of voice
– Eye contact
– Personal space
– Sense of time
– Facial expression

11. Interview Do’s and Don’t’s

12. Interview Do’s and Don’t’s

13. Interview Do’s and Don’t’s

14. Interview Do’s and Don’t’s

15. Cultural Competence in the
Screening Process

16. Cultural Competence in the
Screening Process

17. Interview Techniques

29. Age and Aging

30. Age and Aging