Common errors in the statement of the present illness

A review of 110 case histories recorded by medical students revealed four common types of errors in the presentation of the statement of the present illness: overemphasis on previous findings and diagnoses to the exclusion of the patient's symptoms; inappropriate description of the patient's complaints; failure to discriminate between main symptoms and symptoms of secondary importance; and failure to describe clearly the progression of the disease and the degree of resulting disability. The main difficulty students appeared to have in recording a case history was in the identification and description of the patient's complaints.