prognosi

Prognosi is the forecast of the likely course and outcome of a patient’s disease or condition. It includes the chances of recovery, progression, the occurrence of complications, and mortality. Prognostication informs decisions about treatment plans, monitoring, and goals of care. The term is used mainly in medical contexts but appears in several languages, with the English equivalent prognosis.

Prognosi can be short-term or long-term, disease-specific or overall. Prognostic factors include patient age, comorbidities, functional status, severity and stage of disease, response to therapy, and biomarkers. Clinicians combine data from clinical evaluation, imaging, laboratory tests, and prior outcomes to estimate prognosis. Prognostic tools include survival curves, risk scores, and validated models.

Prognosis is probabilistic and carries uncertainty. It can change with new treatments, disease evolution, and patient preferences. Prognosis guides goals of care, including decisions about aggressive intervention versus palliative approaches. Prospective studies, natural history data, and population registries support prognosis estimates, but individual outcomes may diverge from averages.

History and usage: The concept has long been part of medical reasoning. The term prognosis derives from the Greek prognōsis, from pro- “before” and gnōsis “knowledge.” In English, prognosis is used widely in clinical notes, research, and guidelines to summarize expected outcomes for a patient.