‘SOCRATES‘ is a mnemonic to help you remember the aspects of “pain” that need to be assessed as part of a history.
Site (Where is the pain and where is the worst site of pain?)
Onset (When did it start? Was the onset sudden or gradual?)
Character (Wat is the nature of the pain? An ache? Shooting? Stabbing?)
Radiation (Does the pain radiate anywhere else?)
Associations (What other signs or symptoms are associated with the pain?)
Time course (Does the pain follow any particular pattern?)
Exacerbating/relieving factors (What makes the pain worse or better?)
Severity (How bad is the pain? On a scale of 1 to 10?)
The pain assessment using SOCRATES ignores the social and emotional aspects of pain experience and does not give a full picture.
Mnemonics are a system such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations which assists in remembering something.
Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who lived from 470BC to 399BC. He is credited as being one of the founders of Western philosophy and was among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought.
Other podiatry relevant mnemonics:
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