Social history (medicine) explained

In medicine, a social history (abbreviated "SocHx")^[1] 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 behavior (increased risk of various infections among prostitutes, people who have sex with people for money, 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 persons with cognitive impairment are present)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Medscape.com . 2009-04-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20040101022704/http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/414658 . January 1, 2004 .