SOB
Medical abbreviation · Medical Documentation
| Stands for | Shortness of breath |
|---|---|
| Categories | Medical |
SOB stands for Shortness of breath, a medical documentation abbreviation.
Symptom of difficult or uncomfortable breathing, recorded in chief complaints, triage notes and review of systems. Medical texts call it dyspnea.
Example: CC: SOB x 2 days, worse lying flat, 3-pillow orthopnea.
Usage notes
Universally used in US charts but avoided in patient-facing materials because of the profane slang meaning of the same letters. Clinicians document triggers such as exertion (DOE), lying flat (orthopnea) and waking at night (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea). Dyspnea scales such as the mMRC grade severity.
Related abbreviations
More medical documentation abbreviations
- ROS – Review of systems
- RTC – Return to clinic
- SBAR – Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation
- SH – Social history
- SOAP – Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan
- SOAPIE – Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan, Intervention, Evaluation
- Sx – Symptoms
- TO – Telephone order
- TORB – Telephone order read back
- Tx – Treatment
- UTD – Up to date
- VO – Verbal order
See all 79 medical documentation abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.