pseudopatientn.
/ˌs(j)uːdəʊˈpeɪʃnt/, /ˈs(j)uːdəʊˌpeɪʃnt/, U.S. /ˌsudoʊˈpeɪʃ(ə)nt/, /ˈsudoʊˌpeɪʃ(ə)nt/ A false or spurious patient; spec. (in early use) a person feigning illness to obtain some benefit; (later) a person posing as a patient in order to investigate health care, provide training to medical staff, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > patient > [noun] > seeking treatment > under false pretences
pseudopatient1833
1833 J. E. De Kay Sketches Turkey 308 The sum of $500 was put into his hands with great formality by the pseudo patient, and he stopped the grateful doctor's thanks immediately, by informing him that this sum was not a fee.
1873 Amer. Observer 10 327 His friends informs [sic] me my pseudo patient is still in bed enjoying a good appetite and apparently as well and fleshy as ever.
1903 Bedford (Pa.) Gaz. 30 Jan. 1/8 After doing all he could for the pseudo-patient Dr W. F. Enfield..committed Bunworth to jail.
1947 Amer. OSE Rev. 4 17 A Gestapo patrol went through the entire hospital to seek out victims for the next transport, and also to comb out pseudo-patients.
1973 D. L. Rosenhan in Science 19 Jan. 251/2 The presence of pseudopatients and and the nature of the research program was not known to the hospital staffs.
1974 Med. Jrnl. Austral. 2 385/2 The fact that studies using pseudo~patients as a means of evaluating health services have until the present been poorly conceived should not blind us to the possible values of the technique.
1991 Family Pract. 8 344/1 Students then spent 10 hours overall in general practice history-taking from patients and pseudo-patients, with both verbal and video feedback from trainers.
1998 E. F. Loftus in R. A. Baker Child Sexual Abuse & False Memory Syndrome i. i. 33 The therapist diagnosed ‘incest survivor’, telling the pseudopatient she was a ‘classic case’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1833