Lupine Publishers | Collateral Histories taken from Patients’ Relatives: Processes, Requirements and Evidence of Discrimination
Lupine Publishers | Journal of Clinical and Community Medicine Abstract Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify whether appropriate consent was obtained for taking collateral histories and whether there was evidence of differences between two ethnic groups. Method: Case records of in-patients were reviewed. A sampling framework was established for the identification of 20 in-patients aged over 65 years. Five English and Asian men, as well as 5 English and Asian women were selected from 4 medical wards. Results: The average age of men and women and of English and South Asian patients was comparable at about 80 years. The lowest standards were achieved in scoring cognition and identification of the source of any collateral history. For South Asian patients the preferred language of the patient was only noted on three occasions When score rates were compared the average standard score for English patients was 4.1out of 6 compared to 2.8 for South Asians. Conclusion: We