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The review of systems (ROS) is considered the secondary history and involves asking specific questions targeted to augment the primary history (HPI). These questions are designed to assist you in formulating a differential diagnosis or judging the severity of an illness or disorder.
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The ROS is a focused set of questions, organized generally from head to toe, by the major organ systems. In this chapter you will find a complete ROS in the order most commonly used in medical practice.
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Use the complete ROS when taking an initial history or admitting a patient to the hospital, or while working up a new patient in an outpatient setting.
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However, most often in clinical practice, you may only need the specific ROS questions related to the patient’s chief complaint or active medical condition(s). For instance, in many cases when a patient presents with an acute problem, for example at the emergency room or in an urgent care setting, you may need to cover only one or two body systems. Likewise, with patients who present for management of chronic medical conditions whose status has changed, you may need to use one or more body systems targeting that particular disorder.
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