Chapter 1:	The Patient Interview
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If you are already experienced at conducting patient interviews, you probably have adopted a series of questions that you have found works well. This discussion is meant as a review, and may be helpful if you’ve possibly gotten into a rut in your questioning routine. There are several types of questions you can utilize to assess patients. A brief review of the types of questions is helpful since each has its place in certain situations.

The most common types of questions are called direct questions. These are the questions that patients can be answer with a simple yes or no, or with specific, brief information. Direct questions are most useful in short interviews to assess the patients progress towards therapeutic goals. These questions keep the patient focused on relevant topics and help shorten the conversation. However, direct questions can be over-used, causing the patient to feel overwhelmed and give them the sense that you are in a hurry and don’t really care about their condition.

Direct questions need to be carefully worded since many patients tend to answer yes if they think that’s the answer you want to hear. For example, if you ask the patient whether their breathing has improved today, they may automatically answer "yes" because they think that is the answer you want to hear. A better way to ask the question for some patients may be to ask, "Are you feeling any better today?" Then if the patient’s answer is yes, you can counter by asking, "In what way do you feel better today?" This will give the patient to provide you with more detailed information without feeling any prompting from you.

As you know, it is up to you, not only to ask the right questions in a proper manner, but also to recognize the significance of the patient’s responses to your questions. That is why open-ended questions are often more useful than direct questions. Open-ended questions tend to encourage patients to be more open and talkative about their health concerns, and are particularly useful for the initial interview to identify the various symptoms and details pertaining to their complaints.

Open-ended questions like "Under what conditions do you feel a shortness of breath?" tend to encourage patients to offer more information than direct questions like "Do you ever feel shortness of breath?" However, open-ended questions may not result in identifying all the important details since this type of questioning does not direct the patient. Therefore, the most effective and productive interview contains a combination of direct and open-ended questions.