Signs vs. Symptoms

[neverstoplearning]

What is the difference between signs and symptoms?

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

A sign is objective evidence of disease; it is something that can be seen.

You can see the signs in a patient (either by eye or with medical quipment or labs) polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia are signs of diabetes.

A symptom is subjective evidence of disease; it is a feeling people other than the patient cannot see/feel it. A headache is a symptom. Chest pain could be a symptom of an MI

[avahnel, ASN, RN]

Signs can also be measured. Is the rash the same size as yesterday? Is there redness and swelling arround the IV site? Vital signs are signs.

Symptoms cannot be measured. The only way you know a patient it having a symptom is that they tell you verbally (I have a sore throat) or non verbally (grimicing durring an exam).

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

I think Mosby's Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary, 6th edition explains it the best and most concisely:

• Sign - An objective finding as perceived by an examiner. . .many signs accompany symptoms
• Symptom - A subjective indication of a disease or a change in condition as perceived by the patient. . .many symptoms are accompanied by objective signs. . .some symptoms may be objectively confirmed

Per Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 18th edition ... it's a little more vague:

• Sign - Any objective evidence or manifestation of an illness or disordered function of the body. signs are more or less definitive and obvious apart from the patient's impressions, in contrast to symptoms which are subjective
• Symptom - Any perceptible change in the body or its functions that indicates disease or the kind or phases of disease. symptoms may be classified as objective, subjective, cardinal, and, sometimes, constitutional. however, another classification considers all symptoms s being subjective, with objective indications being called signs.