ABSTRACT
In a respiratory clinic it would be routine as well to ask about snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness, especially in patients who are overweight, because this might lead to a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. Other more generic symptoms are also common in respiratory disease and should be covered elsewhere in the history. Enquire about weight loss, anorexia and headache, as these may all be part of common respiratory illnesses. Once the patient has given their account, prompted by openended questions, go on to examine the nature of the symptoms in more detail.
