Paediatric history taking

The paediatric history should include the following:

• name of person taking the history
• patient's name, age, date of birth
• source of history: mother, father, other.
• emergency or planned admission

Start by listing all complaints and their duration. The story of complaints from child and parent(s) should be written using their own words. If part of the story is in response to a question from you, put 'DQ' in the margin.

Then gather information under the following headings:

• history of presenting complaint
• past history
• family history
• general health
• systems review
• psychological history