assessment
(ă-ses'mĕnt 
)
[L. assessare, to assess a tax]
- An appraisal or evaluation of a patient's condition by a physician, nurse, or other health care provider, based on clinical and laboratory data, medical history, and the patient's account of symptoms.
- The process by which a patient's condition is appraised or evaluated.
comprehensive a.A detailed, systematic physical examination of a patient.
ABBR: CGA
A multidisciplinary assessment of the medical, functional, psychiatric, and social strengths and limitations in older patients. CGA provides a focus on the interrelated factors that contribute to illness. By addressing the complexity of needs, in some studies CGA improves survival and decreases the frequency of acute care hospitalization.ABBR: EQA
A proficiency test.SEE: proficiency test.
fetal a.Estimation of the health status of a fetus by a variety of techniques in order to prevent developmental injuries or death. SYN: fetal monitoring in utero.
SEE: amniocentesis; chorionic villus sampling; deceleration; Doppler echocardiography; fetal heart rate monitoring; fetal (vibratory) acoustic stimulation; table - Techniques for Assessing Fetal Health.
functional a.In rehabilitation, an assessment of a person's ability to perform everyday tasks and requirements of living. Functional assessment scales vary greatly with respect to the number, type, and scoring of the tasks used to determine performance levels, their degree of stand ardization, and their predictive validity.
SEE: activities of daily living.
functional gait a.Functional ambulation profile.
gait a.An assessment of a person's ability to walk, esp. to identify those deficits that limit safe walking. It involves evaluations of the patient's muscular strength, joint movement, balance, posture, sensory perception, and spatial orientation.
During gait assessments, care should be taken to anticipate and prevent injuries that may occur if the patient falls.SYN: gait analysis.
gestational age a.1An assessment of the prenatal age of the fetus, typically by reviewing the pregnant woman's menstrual history, making measurements of fundal height, or by making ultrasonic measurements of fetal parts. This information is essential so that appropriately timed obstetrical care can be provided and the progress of the pregnancy can be compared with normal stand ards.
SEE: amniocentesis; fundal height.
2An assessment of a newborn's maturity in which the newborn's assessment findings are compared against the expected physical and neuromuscular characteristics consistent with a given point in gestation.SEE: Dubowitz tool; large for gestational age; small for gestational age.
ABBR: KTA
A performance-based assessment of cognitive function in which a subject is asked to follow a pudding recipe, and the amount of support needed to complete the task is measured. The test has been used to assess the ability of demented patients to make their own meals and to demonstrate to caregivers the amount of support that cognitively impaired individuals may need when performing simple household tasks.mobility a.Formal testing of patient movement, e.g., with the chair stand test and the four-stage balance test. It evaluates a person’s frailty and risk of falling.
needs a.An assessment of what is necessary to solve an administrative or clinical problem and of the resources to accomplish that task.
SEE: nursing assessment.
pain a.A determination of the character, duration, intensity, and location of a patient's pain, including its effects on his or her ability to function.
primary a.The first assessment of the patient in the field, conducted after it is clear that the scene is safe. This preliminary evaluation is designed to locate and manage life-threatening injuries or illness and to determine the patient's triage priority. The initial assessment follows the sequence of mental status, airway, breathing, and circulation.
ABBR: RTA
The assessment of a trauma patient's head, neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, extremities, and posterior, conducted after the initial assessment in patients with a forceful mechanism of injury, such as a car crash. SYN: rapid trauma exam.risk a.An estimate of the hazards people face, made by compiling data about diseases, injuries, and death rates during specified periods of time.
secondary a.The more thorough assessment of a patient after the initial examination of his or her airway, breathing, and circulation (ABCs).