In the SAMPLE mnemonic, what does P stand for?

In the SAMPLE mnemonic, what does P stand for?

• A. Past Health
• B. Past History
• C. Personal Health
• D. Patient History

Answer: (A)

In this mnemonic, P stands for Past medical history. That means asking about health information the patient has had in the past—prior illnesses, chronic conditions, surgeries, hospitalizations, and any long-standing health issues. Knowing PMH helps you understand how current symptoms might be connected to previous problems and guides decisions about what treatments or medications are safe to use now. While some variations use terms like past health or past history, the important idea is the same: gathering important health information from the patient’s history to inform care.

In this mnemonic, P stands for Past medical history. That means asking about health information the patient has had in the past—prior illnesses, chronic conditions, surgeries, hospitalizations, and any long-standing health issues. Knowing PMH helps you understand how current symptoms might be connected to previous problems and guides decisions about what treatments or medications are safe to use now. While some variations use terms like past health or past history, the important idea is the same: gathering important health information from the patient’s history to inform care.