Prognosis vs diagnosis

Verywell Mind content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication. The terms prognosis and diagnosis are often used in mental health. While they are sometimes confused, they have different meanings. A prognosis is a prediction about the course that a condition will take. A diagnosis, on the other hand, identifies the condition that is associated with a set of symptoms. What Is a Prognosis in Mental Health? People often confuse the terms prognosis and diagnosis. The difference between the two is that while a prognosis is a guess as to the outcome of treatment, a diagnosis is actually identifying the problem and giving it a name. Simply put, a prognosis is a prediction, whereas a diagnosis states what's already there. A prognosis also makes predictions about how a condition will affect a person's quality of life. It is used as a best guess for how the condition will affect your life in the future. How a Prognosis Is Determined Healthcare professionals often rely on statistics about condition outcomes in order to make a prognosis about any given condition. Because a prognosis is based on how people tend to do on average, it means that it isn't necessarily written in stone. A d...

Medicare just added and document. But how? What Is a Prognosis? Prognosis refers to making an educated guess about the expected outcome of treatment. Based on the medical model, it’s a prediction of a client’s process and progress. Determining prognosis for a psychotherapy client is not as straight forward as determining the prognosis for someone with heart disease, for example. I thought long and hard about how to document this because prognosis is based on a combination of factors. Given the client’s circumstances, how much healing can happen and how long will it take? Prognosis vs. Diagnosis Prognosis and diagnosis are often confused. While a diagnosis identifies the problem with a label, like depression, anxiety, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, prognosis is an educated guess about the outcome of treatment. What Factors Affect Prognosis? Prognosis is based on quite a few factors that must all be considered when developing your educated guess. It’s not a simple process but it is worth taking time to think about because it can inform your treatment. Factors that influence prognosis include: • Age • Gender • Duration of symptoms • How the symptoms are presenting (behaviors) • Medical history and possible comorbidities • Family medical and mental health history • Risk factors • History of trauma • Client’s strengths and weaknesses • Motivation • Supports • Access or barriers to care • Financial resources • Cultural influences • Treatment or treatments being used • Respon...

Diagnosis Physical exam Your doctor may suspect mononucleosis based on your signs and symptoms, how long they've lasted, and a physical exam. He or she will look for signs such as swollen lymph nodes, tonsils, liver or spleen, and consider how these signs relate to the symptoms you describe. Blood tests • Antibody tests. If there's a need for additional confirmation, a monospot test may be done to check your blood for antibodies to the Epstein-Barr virus. This screening test gives results within a day. But it may not detect the infection during the first week of the illness. A different antibody test requires a longer result time, but can detect the disease even within the first week of symptoms. • White blood cell count. Your doctor may use other blood tests to look for an elevated number of white blood cells (lymphocytes) or abnormal-looking lymphocytes. These blood tests won't confirm mononucleosis, but they may suggest it as a possibility. Treatment There's no specific therapy available to treat infectious mononucleosis. Antibiotics don't work against viral infections such as mono. Treatment mainly involves taking care of yourself, such as getting enough rest, eating a healthy diet and drinking plenty of fluids. You may take over-the-counter pain relievers to treat a fever or sore throat. Medications • Treating secondary infections and other complications. A streptococcal (strep) infection sometimes goes along with the sore throat of mononucleosis. You may also develop...

Factors used to decide whether to test you for the virus that causes COVID-19 may differ depending on where you live. Depending on your location, you may need to be screened by your clinic to determine if testing is appropriate and available. In the U.S., your health care provider will determine whether to conduct tests for the virus that causes COVID-19 based on your signs and symptoms, as well as whether you have had close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Your health care provider may also consider testing if you are at higher risk of serious illness or you are going to have a medical procedure. If you have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 but you've had COVID-19 in the past month, you don't need to be tested. If you've been fully vaccinated and you've had close contact with someone with COVID-19, get tested 5 days after you've had contact with them. To test for the COVID-19 virus, a health care provider takes a sample from the nose (nasopharyngeal swab), throat (throat swab) or saliva. The samples are then sent to a lab for testing. If you're coughing up sputum, that may be sent for testing. The FDA has authorized at-home tests for the COVID-19 virus. These are available only with a doctor's prescription. Treatment Currently, a few medicines have been approved to treat COVID-19. No cure is available for COVID-19. Antibiotics aren't effective against viral infections such as COVID-19. Researchers are testing a variety of possible treatments. The ...

3rd edition as of August 2022 Module Overview Module 3 covers the issues of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. We will define assessment and then describe key issues such as reliability, validity, standardization, and specific methods that are used. In terms of clinical diagnosis, we will discuss the two main classification systems used around the world – the DSM-5-TR and ICD-11. Finally, we discuss the reasons why people may seek treatment and what to expect when doing so. Module Outline • • • Module Learning Outcomes • Describe clinical assessment and methods used in it. • Clarify how mental health professionals diagnose mental disorders in a standardized way. • Discuss reasons to seek treatment and the importance of psychotherapy. Section Learning Objectives • Define clinical assessment. • Clarify why clinical assessment is an ongoing process. • Define and exemplify reliability. • Define and exemplify validity. • Define standardization. • List and describe seven methods of assessment. 3.1.1. What is Clinical Assessment? For a mental health professional to be able to effectively help treat a client and know that the treatment selected worked (or is working), they first must engage in the clinical assessment of the client, or collecting information and drawing conclusions through the use of observation, psychological tests, neurological tests, and interviews to determine the person’s problem and the presenting symptoms. This collection of information involves ...

Overview Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an illness that can lead to bruising and bleeding. Low levels of the cells that help blood clot, also known as platelets, most often cause the bleeding. Once known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, ITP can cause purple bruises. It also can cause tiny reddish-purple dots on the skin that look like a rash. Children can get ITP after a virus. They most often get better without treatment. In adults, the illness often lasts months or years. People with ITP who aren't bleeding and whose platelet count isn't too low might not need treatment. For worse symptoms, treatment might include medicines to raise platelet count or surgery to remove the spleen. Petechiae Bleeding into the skin looks like tiny reddish-purple spots, also known as petechiae. Petechiae might look like a rash. Here they appear on a leg (A) and on the stomach area (B). Immune thrombocytopenia might not have symptoms. When symptoms occur, they might include: • Easy bruising. • Bleeding into the skin that looks like tiny reddish-purple spots, also known as petechiae. The spots mostly show up on the lower legs. They look like a rash. • Bleeding into the skin that's larger than petechiae, also known as purpura. • Bleeding from the gums or nose. • Blood in urine or stools. • Really heavy menstrual flow. When to see a doctor Make an appointment with your health care provider if you or your child has symptoms that worry you. Bleeding that won't stop is a medical emergency....