Lesson 13: History of Present Illness

Performing an HPI

I'll be using the OLDCAARTS mnemonic for performing an HPI. As most of you know, this mnemonic tends to work best when you are seeing patients who are describing pain so some phrases (such as location) reflect that in this lesson

Onset: 
When did it start?: Cuándo empezó?

​Location:
Where do you have pain?: Dónde tiene dolor?

​Duration:
How long does it last?: Cuánto tiempo dura?

​Character:
Can you describe the pain?: Puede describirlo? 


​Aggravating:
What makes it worse? ¿Qué lo empeora? 


Alleviating: 
What relieves it? ¿Qué lo alivia?

Radiation:
Does the pain radiate? El dolor se mueve a otro lugar? 

Timing:
Is there a specific time where symptoms are better? worse?: Hay un tiempo cuando las sintomas son mejor? o peor? 

Severity/ scale
How much does it hurt on a scale from 0 to 10? Cuánto le duele en una escala de 0 a 10?