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case history

case history

6 4.1
A detailed written record of a person's past medical and personal information
  • noun
  • /keɪs ˈhɪstəri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : historia clínica
  • The psychologist reviewed the patient's case history to better understand their treatment needs.
  • a detailed case history
  • clinical case history
  • individual case histories

Examples

  • Well, we've had very little case history to go on.

  • I keep careful case histories of all my patients, but I don't need to tell you that's a matter of strict confidence between doctor and patient.

  • I have read his case history.

  • Well, here is the case history.

  • The health district public health nurses completed an individual case history for each of the children.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The patient was informed about the possibility of the publication of her case history.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Your case history gets more fascinating by every minute, Barbara.

  • Public health nurses reported medical symptoms information from complaint records and individual case histories.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Disease duration was estimated by examination of the medical records and case histories.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Orten's own case history yields a vivid picture of the multiple impacts of a genetic disorder.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

medical record
vscase history
  • Specialized
109 2.3

A written file with a patient's health history and treatments

covers broader background, psychological details, and group circumstances beyond clinical care
medical history
vscase history
39 3.2

A record of a person's past illnesses and treatments

is a formal written account rather than a patient-recalled summary

How Detailed

dossier
  • Formal
74 7.4
case history
  • Specialized
6 4.1
to account
123 3.2
to note
158 1.3
summary
3.3

Surface Forms

case history singular

Morphology

case + history

The meaning is directly compositional: 'case' (the person or subject under study) combined with 'history' (a record of past events) yields a record of a person's/background events. This noun compound follows common, cross-linguistic patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Case history comes from the idea of keeping the 'history' of a single 'case' in one file. Imagine a folder that holds all the notes about a patient's past and treatments, so case history means a detailed written record of that person.