provocation

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act of provoking, inciting or annoying someone into doing something.
2. (countable, uncountable)Something that provokes; a provocative act.

   “The Salzburg Festival stunned the musical world by hiring him to succeed the hallowed Herbert von Karajan, and Mr. Mortier spent the 1990s there scandalizing many of its tradition-minded, well-heeled opera patrons, the most notorious provocation being a production of Johann Strauss’s “Fledermaus” laced with cocaine and fornication and aimed at Austria’s far-right political forces.”

3. (countable, uncountable)The second step in OPQRST regarding the investigation of what makes the symptoms MOI or NOI improve or deteriorate.

   “When it's time to check for provocation, ask the patient about what makes their chief complaint better or worse.”