Background:A questionnaire was developed to investigate the differences in frequency of usage and the understood meaning of 10 terms used in evidencebased medicine. Method: The questionnaire was administered to a group of healthcare professionals (64), medical students (71) and patients with diabetes (69). The frequency of use on a yes/no basis and a profile of usage by participants choosing alternatives a-d were recorded. Results: The findings showed that significant differences in the frequency of usage of terms such as 'risk factor' and 'relative risk' and the concept of 'number needed to treat' occurred between the three participant groups (p<0.001). The findings also showed that the considered meaning out of the four options offered for some of these 'terms' differed significantly between the three participant groups, eg 'probable' and 'risk factor' (p<0.001). Conclusion: We should be aware of the frequency with which we use these words and the meanings attached to them, both from our own and our patients' perspectives, and clarify this. We propose that further investigation is warranted.

The National Service Framework for Diabetes reintroduced the term ‘empowerment’ into diabetes education. Still many health care professionals (HCPs) rarely provide the opportunity within their consultations for patients to express their feelings regarding their long‐term management of their diabetes, for fear of ‘taking the lid off Pandora's Box’. We studied the use of two simple opening questions as proposed by Anderson and Funnell in the environment of a secondary care diabetes clinic. The two questions were ‘What part of living with diabetes do you find most difficult?’ and ‘How does that make you feel?’ Seventy patients participated and 61 tapes were transcribed for content analysis. Our findings indicated a wide range of difficulties and feelings/emotions being expressed. There was no significant difference found between those participants who were given the Problem Areas In Diabetes (PAID) questionnaire or a neutral questionnaire prior to their consultation, in the number of difficulties discussed (t [24] = ‐0.422, p>0.05), or feelings and emotions discussed (t [24] = 0.701, p>0.05). On present evidence these two simple questions can be used as a practical and safe communication procedure by HCPs to find a way into these areas. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons.