Osteopathic Evaluation.

The purpose of osteopathic evaluation and patient assessment is to provide sufficient interaction with the patient to initiate the treatment phase.

The physician begins by observing the patient. This observation includes but is not limited to body habitus, dress, emotional state, posture, and anything else that may reflect the essential, underlying patterns of the patient as a unique individual. As the patient walks into the examination room (assuming he or she is ambulatory), the physician pays close attention to how he or she moves through space.

The history and physical examination are of crucial importance in osteopathy. They form the foundation for future clinical work and must be undertaken in a careful and thorough manner. The history covers the major medical parameters; specific information about prenatal, labor, and delivery history; and neonatal, pediatric, and adolescent physical and psychosocial history. Significant traumas and illnesses must also be elicited. The physician also must determine if the patient is right- or left-handed and if this was ever consciously or otherwise changed.

In eliciting the chief complaint as well as other complaints, the practitioner must accurately establish the onset of symptoms and specific history of any pathological development. It is especially important to understand the personal factors (e.g., family or personal crises, emotional traumas) that occurred in the patient's life within six months preceding and up to the complaint. This information may change the physician's understanding of the situation. Previous therapies of any nature must be elicited.