Clarifications

Tags: consultation skills 

Clarification questions are used in the Cambridge Calgary model of consultation skills to ensure that the clinician understands the patient's perspective and to obtain more specific information about the patient's problem. They can be used at any stage of the consultation, but they are particularly important in the gathering information and explanation and planning stages.

Types of clarification questions:

• Open-ended questions: These questions invite the patient to expand on their response and provide more detail. Examples include:

  • Can you tell me more about that?

  • What do you mean by...?

  • How did that make you feel?

• Closed-ended questions: These questions have a specific answer and are used to obtain specific information. Examples include:

  • How long have you been experiencing this problem?

  • How often does this happen?

  • What have you tried to do to relieve the problem?

• Reflective questions: These questions are used to check the clinician's understanding of the patient's perspective. Examples include:

  • So, what you're saying is that...

  • It sounds like you're feeling...

  • If I understand you correctly, you're worried about...