Patient Assessment and Evaluation Flashcards
7 cards from real APC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Patient Assessment and Evaluation flashcards as text
A patient requests advice for a persistent dry cough that began two weeks after starting a new blood pressure medication. Which drug class is most likely responsible?
Answer: ACE inhibitors
ACE inhibitors cause a persistent dry cough in up to 20% of patients due to bradykinin accumulation in the respiratory tract.
A pharmacist uses motivational interviewing during a patient consultation. Which technique is central to this approach?
Answer: Asking open-ended questions and reflecting the patient's own words back to them
Motivational interviewing uses open-ended questions, reflective listening, and eliciting the patient's own reasons for change to support behavior change.
When assessing a patient's renal function to guide drug dosing, which marker is most commonly used in clinical practice?
Answer: Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
eGFR is the standard marker used to assess renal function and classify chronic kidney disease stages for drug dosing adjustments.
A patient on long-term corticosteroids asks about a new OTC NSAID for knee pain. What is the most important assessment concern?
Answer: Risk of corticosteroid-NSAID interaction increasing gastrointestinal ulceration risk
Concurrent use of corticosteroids and NSAIDs significantly increases the risk of gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding, making this combination contraindicated without GI protection.
During a structured patient interview, which question best assesses a patient's health literacy?
Answer: 'Can you show me how you would take your medications using this sample?'
A 'teach-back' or demonstration approach such as asking patients to show how they take medications is the most reliable way to assess functional health literacy.
A 55-year-old smoker with a 30-pack-year history presents with a new chronic productive cough. Which red flag would most indicate the need for urgent referral for cancer screening?
Answer: Haemoptysis (coughing up blood)
Haemoptysis in a long-term smoker is a significant red flag for lung cancer and requires urgent investigation including chest imaging.
A pharmacist reviewing a patient's medication profile identifies that the patient is taking both a SSRI and tramadol. What is the primary assessment concern?
Answer: Risk of serotonin syndrome due to additive serotonergic effects
The combination of an SSRI and tramadol (which has serotonergic activity) raises the risk of serotonin syndrome, a potentially life-threatening condition.