Tashkhees

Tashkhees (تشخیص) is the process of identifying a disease or medical condition based on the patient’s history, examination findings, and diagnostic tests. The term is used across Persian- and Urdu-speaking medical communities and is closely related to the English term diagnosis. Etymologically, tashkhees derives from roots in Arabic and Persian meaning to recognize or differentiate.

In clinical practice, tashkhees begins with gathering information from the patient: symptoms, onset, course, risk factors, medications, and family history. The clinician then performs a physical examination to detect signs. Based on this information, a list of possible conditions, called a differential diagnosis, is generated. Targeted tests—laboratory studies, imaging, electrodiagnostic tests, and sometimes tissue biopsy—are used to confirm or rule out possibilities. The final diagnosis is the condition that best explains the evidence, or sometimes a working diagnosis if certainty is incomplete, guiding treatment and prognosis.

Types of tashkhees include clinical diagnosis (made without tests), laboratory or imaging-based diagnosis, and etiologic or pathologic diagnosis (e.g., histopathology). Diagnostic criteria and guidelines provide standardized definitions to improve reliability, such as DSM-5 criteria for psychiatric disorders or disease-specific scoring systems.

Challenges in tashkhees include diagnostic errors, over- or under-testing, and uncertainty, especially in early disease or atypical presentations. Ongoing assessment, follow-up, and revision of the diagnosis are common as new information becomes available. Access to tests, cost, and local guidelines influence tashkhees in practice.

In non-medical contexts, tashkhees may be used to refer to the broader act of identification or recognition in everyday language. In medicine, it remains a central, ongoing process that shapes treatment decisions and patient outcomes.