Challenging history taking encounters: a systematic review, meta-analysis and phenomenological framework

Sabrina Hossain1, Kate Murray2, Liyang Zhang1

  • 1School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia.

BMJ Open
|April 13, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Challenging physician-patient communication occurs in 19.5% of encounters, impacting diagnosis. This review identifies causes and strategies for difficult history-taking scenarios to improve medical training.

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