You WILL comply . . . .

[Sapphire Silk]

I could understand it if I had come in for anything even remotely related to any of those things, but I wasn't. I would stand up from sitting down or lying down and I'd get very dizzy. I never passed out, but I'd have to hold onto something for about 10 to 30 seconds before I could see straight/support myself. That was all I was in there for, not to talk about who owns a gun or who might be gay.

You've completely missed my point, then. Going to see the doctor is not about the quick fix. These sorts of screenings are a very important part of your overall health care.

I had a dentist's office hand me a sheaf of papers to fill out, and I was happy to do so until the questions just got straight up bizarre.

I wrote "Seriously?" in the blank to answer the first one and ignored everything else after that. Handed it back it without even saying anything about it.

Nobody said shit to me about it, either. And it's a good damn thing, too.

True, if a patient refused to answer screening questions, I wouldn't press them, either. I'd write "Declined to answer," and let it go at that. We HAVE to ask certain questions.

You don't have to answer.

But the questions SHOULD have some relevance to a health care need. In my case, the answers were purely about registration issues; they had NO medical relevance and the registration clerk admitted as much.

In thatcrazyredhead's case, the questions were relevant in that the doctor had a responsibility to screen for specific kinds of problems as part of the ongoing doctor-patient relationship. Those questions, while they may not have seemed to relate to the specific problem she went in for (I can't know for sure, not having seen all the questions) DO relate to the long term doctor-patient relationship.

I am curious, though. What was the first question?

[dalesys]

I am curious, though. What was the first question?

Have you stopped beating your cat?

[thatcrazyredhead]

You've completely missed my point, then. Going to see the doctor is not about the quick fix. These sorts of screenings are a very important part of your overall health care.

I fail to see what whether anyone in my home owned a gun or whether any of my FRIENDS were sexually active/gay/using drugs/drinking has to do with MY health.

[Dragon_Dreamer]

Peer groups, honestly. Also, easy access to guns = easy ability to use them, possibly. You said she was a new doctor to you. Even if YOU weren't going to keep seeing her, SHE didn't know that, and it's best to have a profile of a patient to begin with.

If many of someone's friends are using drugs, maybe they've pressured that someone into doing them. If their friends are having sex, that could pressure the patient into having sex. If many of that person's friends are LGBT, the patient might have been the victim of some discrimination and teasing for it.

A patient's mental health is often a good predictor of their physical health. She wasn't trying to be nosy, she was trying to get a picture of you, so she could best help you IN THE FUTURE.

It's all standard stuff, really. I've gone to a few new doctors, and know they're only trying to get info, even if its unrelated to the current issue, to have on hand to help with later issues. Plus, sometimes things that SEEM unrelated can actually be at the root of an issue.

I've been lucky with my GP, at least. My doctor has seen me and my family since we moved to this area in the 1940s, so they've known me and my mom literally since birth. My file with them is THICK. And if they didn't have me answer those questions every few years, they wouldn't have such a complete picture of my health.

They're the ones who pinned down my sulfur allergy, because I ate certain foods and would get extremely sick. And when I got old enough and certain WINES were making me sick, they taught me to look for the amount of sulfites in the wine. Because they also had my family history, they were able to teach me to look out for the signs of alcohol abuse in myself, because there are alcoholics on both sides of my family. My parents are teetotallers for the same reason. I am very careful with how much I drink.

If you don't feel comfortable answering some questions, your doctor usually won't pressure you to do so. It doesn't mean they aren't valid.

And Panacea's situation was a case of stuff they probably did not need to know. :P The only guess I can venture for maiden name was maybe to cross-reference her records? Dunno. Still, they should not have pressured her when she declined.

[thatcrazyredhead]

Peer groups, honestly. Also, easy access to guns = easy ability to use them, possibly. You said she was a new doctor to you. Even if YOU weren't going to keep seeing her, SHE didn't know that, and it's best to have a profile of a patient to begin with.

If many of someone's friends are using drugs, maybe they've pressured that someone into doing them. If their friends are having sex, that could pressure the patient into having sex. If many of that person's friends are LGBT, the patient might have been the victim of some discrimination and teasing for it.

I am and always have been my own person. Whatever my friends do is what they do, not necessarily what I do. I can understand wanting all that information if I or my mother had expressed concern for my mental or emotional health (we had not) or if this woman was in the phsychological field (she was not). It all just felt very invasive, and when I expressed concern at having to give so much deeply personal information to a complete stranger, she DID pressure me about it.

Oh, well, live and learn. In the future, I will simply write "none of your damn business" and leave it at that.

[Dragon_Dreamer]

Sounds good, though keep in mind that she had no way of knowing that. That questionnaire was given to ALL her patients, and not all had the strength of will you do. One size fits all kinda thing. You're right that she shouldn't have pressured you.

Just playing devil's advocate. Hope your dizziness spells have ceased!

[Sapphire Silk]

I fail to see what whether anyone in my home owned a gun or whether any of my FRIENDS were sexually active/gay/using drugs/drinking has to do with MY health.

Because they tell the doctor something about risk factors and risky behaviors. Transmission rates of STDs, potential for violence (either as perpetrator or victim) are both strongly connected to the presence of guns in a home, use of alcohol and/or drugs, and sexual practices (monogamous relationships aren't, but many sexual partners IS, especially if of both sexes. Types of sexual behaviors, ie anal sex, BDSM, use of alcohol/drugs during sex all increase risks). It has a lot to do with your health: doctors are trying to contain the spread of STDs, which are on the rise. HIV infections are way, way up, and the biggest jump is in the gay community (younger gays aren't familiar with what the disease does and are abandoning safe sex practices). It really does matter.

And Panacea's situation was a case of stuff they probably did not need to know. :P The only guess I can venture for maiden name was maybe to cross-reference her records? Dunno. Still, they should not have pressured her when she declined.

Exactly. They don't need my Social Security Number. That has nothing to do with my health care. It is used to run a credit check, nothing more. That's not a legitimate request, and the government urges citizens NOT to provide it to businesses with no need to know (such as a bank when applying for a loan) to prevent identity theft.

Place of Birth is a demographic used for marketing purposes. That's not a legit health care request.

Marital status may be, the hospital may want to know if there's a husband who may come along. But with many partners (male and female) hiding from abusive spouses, a better question is, "Who is authorized to know you are here?"

Maiden name and aliases may seem reasonable (to see if you've ever registered under another name), but see my answer to Marital Status.

I am and always have been my own person. Whatever my friends do is what they do, not necessarily what I do. I can understand wanting all that information if I or my mother had expressed concern for my mental or emotional health (we had not) or if this woman was in the phsychological field (she was not). It all just felt very invasive, and when I expressed concern at having to give so much deeply personal information to a complete stranger, she DID pressure me about it.

Oh, well, live and learn. In the future, I will simply write "none of your damn business" and leave it at that.

No one suggested you weren't your own person. But because you don't understand the relevance of the question doesn't make it a bad question. Ask for the purpose of the answers. If you don't like the answers you can always decline.

"None of your damn business" is your choice to write down, but it is hardly the first response I would choose. I would simply leave it blank (which is what I did in my instance), and then state, "I don't want to answer that question", or "You do not need to know that." "None of your business" is what I did answer at one point, but without the profanity and only after having been repeatedly pressed.

When I worked in an ER, and I asked a screening question someone didn't want to answer, I didn't push them. I simply wrote, "Patient declines to answer," and moved on.

[Nyoibo]

These questions are there to cover someones ass, if I have a client who doesn't answer questions and something I do causes a reaction, whatever it may be, well, not my fault and tough shit, there's usually reasons for questions asked, usually because there's a precedent, I wouldn't have asked clients if they're suffering from depression, but after someone comitted suicide because of a severe emotional release after a treatment, you damn sure better believe I'm going to ask.

[wolfie]

I'm so sorry that your complaint isn't being upheld.

When I was in high school, I went to a doctor who made me fill out an entire packet of questions that were not medical history or any of her business. The packet had questions about whether anyone in my home consumed alcohol or owned a gun, whether I'd ever had thoughts of suicide, whether any of my friends had ever thought of suicide, my sexual orientation, my friends' sexual orientation, etc. It didn't seem at all relevant to the problem at hand (I was getting very dizzy very often and I wanted to know what was wrong with me) and so I asked her about it. Without even examining me, she decided the problem was in my ears. She smiled sweetly and said, "If we fix what's wrong with your ears, but then you go out and kill yourself, that would be a waste, wouldn't it?" I was 15, maybe 16, and scared that something was very wrong with me, so I let the matter drop. Now I wish I would have flatly refused to fill it out. Where does she get off, asking those kinds of questions?

Would be interesting to see how they would handle that one being answered "Only when health care professionals, instead of treating the problem I came in with, demand that I answer a long list of irrelevant questions".

[Shalom]

Although it is amusing when they don't look at what Rxs I'm taking (Lybrel) and freak out that I haven't had a period in over a year.

What do they think Lybrel is for, anyway...?

[Pagan]

What do they think Lybrel is for, anyway...?

It's called they don't bother to read my chart. Just look at what I put down on the yearly update sheet and then don't read that closely since I list that as the only med that I take (well, besides the odd ASA and anti-histamine). Then they proceed to freak out. Honestly, I don't think the read past the line that says, "Date of last menstrual period."