Which term describes signs or symptoms you have reason to suspect but the patient denies having?

• A. Associated symptoms
• B. Objective documentation
• C. Subjective documentation
• D. Pertinent negatives

Answer: (D)

Pertinent negatives are the signs or symptoms you would expect to find given the patient’s condition, but the patient denies having them. Recognizing and documenting these negatives helps you narrow the differential diagnosis and avoid overlooking serious issues, because it shows you’ve considered a full range of possibilities and verified which ones are not present. This concept sits between what you observe (objective data) and what the patient reports (subjective data). It differs from associated symptoms, which are additional symptoms that accompany the main complaint and can support diagnosis, and from simply recording what the patient says (subjective) or what you can measure (objective). So, the term that describes those suspected but denied signs or symptoms is pertinent negatives.