Opqrst

OPQRST is an mnemonic initialism used by persons performing first aid, or medical providers, in order to facilitate taking a patient's symptoms and history in the event of an acute illness. Each letter stands for an important line of questioning for the patient assessment. This is usually taken along with vital signs and the SAMPLE history and would usually be recorded by the person delivering the aid, for later reference.

Meaning
The parts of the mnemonic are:
 * Onset of the event
 * What the patient was doing when it started (active, inactive, stressed), whether the onset was sudden, gradual or part of an ongoing chronic problem.


 * Provocation or Palliation
 * Whether any movement, pressure (such as palpation or other external factor makes the problem better or worse. This can also include whether the symptoms relieve with rest


 * Quality of the pain
 * This is a description of the pain including whether it is sharp, dull, crushing or some other feeling, along with the pattern, such as intermittent, constant, only on movement etc.


 * Region and Radiation
 * Where the pain is on the body and whether it radiates to any other area. This can give indications for conditions such as a myocardial infarction, which can radiate through the jaw and arms.


 * Severity
 * The pain score (usually on a scale of 1 to 10). This can be comparative (such as 'compared to the worst pain you have ever experienced') or imaginative ('compared to having your arm ripped off by a bear').  The clinician must decide whether a score given is realistic within their experience - for instance, a pain score 10 for a stubbed toe is likely to be exaggerated.  This may also be assessed for pain now, compared to pain at time of onset, or pain on movement.  There are alternative assessment methods for pain, which can be used where a patient is unable to vocalise a score.  One such method is the Wong-Baker faces pain scale.


 * Time (history)
 * How long the condition has been going on for, and how it has changed during it's development (better, worse, different symptoms). It may also be useful to know if it ever happened before.