Knowledge of Medical Terminology among Hospital Patients

Tj, Byrne; Edeani, David O.

doi:10.1097/00006199-198405000-00012

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Regrettably, studies indicate that health-care professionals often use jargon that are unfamiliar to health-care users ( Byrne and Edeani, 1984 , Castro et al, 2007 , Ley, 1998 ), and that health information is often written at readability levels that are too high for the majority of the intended recipients ( Rudd et al, 2000 ); such information is assumed to be dysfluently processed. In such cases, more information may cause target subjects to feel distrust and disfavor rather than empowered, especially for those who have limited health literacy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A readability comparison of anti- versus pro-influenza vaccination online messages in Japan

Okuhara

Ishikawa

Okada

et al. 2017

Preventive Medicine Reports

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Historically, anti-vaccination sentiment has existed in many populations. Mass media plays a large role in disseminating and sensationalizing vaccine objections, especially via the medium of the Internet. Based on studies of processing fluency, we assumed that anti-influenza vaccination online messages to be more readable and more fluently processed than pro-influenza vaccination online messages, which may consequently sway the opinions of some audiences. The aim of this study was to compare readability of anti- and pro-influenza vaccination online messages in Japan using a measure of readability.Web searches were conducted at the end of August 2016 using two major Japanese search engines (Google.jp and Yahoo!.jp). The included websites were classified as “anti”, “pro”, or “both” depending on the claims, and “health professional” or “non-health professional” depending on the writers' expertise. Readability was determined using a validated measure of Japanese readability (the Japanese sentence difficulty discrimination system). Readability of “health professional” websites was compared with that of “non-health professional” websites, and readability of “anti” websites was compared with that of “pro” websites, using the t-test.From a total of 145 websites, the online messages written by non-health professionals were significantly easier to read than those written by health professionals (p = 0.002, Cohen's d = 0.54). Anti-influenza vaccination messages were significantly easier to read than pro-influenza vaccination messages (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.74).When health professionals prepare pro-influenza vaccination materials for publication online, we recommend they check for readability using readability assessment tools and improve the text for easy reading if necessary.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A readability comparison of anti- versus pro-influenza vaccination online messages in Japan

Okuhara

Ishikawa

Okada

et al. 2017

Preventive Medicine Reports

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“…Doctors and nurses often overestimate patients’ health literacy level (Bass, Wilson, Griffith, & Barnett, 2002) and their knowledge of medical terminology (Byrne & Edeani, 1984; Schillinger, Bindman, Wang, Stewart, & Piette, 2004). Schillinger et al (2004) found that patients with low scores on a test of functional health literacy were more likely to report poor communication with practitioners in terms of general clarity, explanation of condition, and explanation of process of care.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Doctors can jeopardize clear communication when they discuss health matters using sophisticated scientific words and concepts. They often use medical terms that are fundamental to their area of clinical expertise (Bourhis, Roth, & MacQueen, 1989) but are unknown to patients without medical training (Boyle, 1970; Byrne & Edeani, 1984; Castro, Wilson, Wang, & Schillinger, 2007; Chapple, Campion, & May, 1997; Cole, 1979; Hadlow & Pitts, 1991). The challenge is for doctors to express themselves in language that lay people can understand.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Word Use to Study Health Literacy in Doctor–Patient Communication

Koch‐Weser¹,

Rudd²,

DeJong³

2010

Journal of Health Communication

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Most health literacy research to date has assessed health literacy using either general reading tests or text-based appraisals of reading and numeracy skills, yet the definition of health literacy includes domains beyond reading ability. Effective oral communication between doctor and patient is an important component of health literacy, but only recently have efforts been made to develop measures that tap into domains beyond those that can be assessed with text-based measures. Focusing on oral exchange, this paper describes computer-assisted approaches to quantifying word use and the development of three word-use measures that can be used to study health literacy in transcripts of clinical encounters. The measures can be used to assess either the expressed literacy level of patients or the aural literacy demands made by doctors. Importantly, the computer-assisted quantitative measures described here make it possible for word use to be analyzed at a level of detail that human raters would be hard pressed to attain.

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“…In choosing what words to use, speakers make assumptions about their listener’s knowledge base 18 . Doctors and nurses often overestimate patients’ health literacy level 19 and their knowledge of medical terminology 2 . A variety of studies have examined clinical communication and patient understanding, but only a few have examined the patterns of medical word use by doctors and patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…18 Doctors and nurses often overestimate patientsÕ health literacy level 19 and their knowledge of medical terminology. 2 A variety of studies have examined clinical communication and patient understanding, but only a few have examined the patterns of medical word use by doctors and patients. According to Daltroy,20 doctors and patients must accomplish specific communication tasks.…”

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confidence: 99%

Medical word use in clinical encounters

Koch‐Weser

DeJong

Rudd

2009

Health Expectations

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Objective Doctors often use medical language with their patients despite findings from a variety of studies that have shown that patients frequently misunderstand medical terminology. Little is known about the patterns of medical word use by doctors and patients during clinical encounters.Methods A content analysis of 16 verbatim transcripts of first clinical encounters between rheumatologists and newly referred patients was conducted to assess how doctors and patients introduced medical words. Medical words were identified via a computer program using a defined list.Results Doctors did not introduce or use more medical words than patients, but the types of words that doctors and patients introduced did differ. The majority of patient-initiated medical words occurred during the history taking (94%). Doctors did not explain, or use as part of an explanation, the majority (79%) of the medical words they introduced, and patients seldom responded in a way that would indicate whether or not they had correctly interpreted those terms. There was relatively little repetition of medical words within or even across encounters.Conclusions This study provides insights into how the use of medical terminology could contribute to misunderstanding. Findings suggest that steps already promoted in the literature to improve doctor-patient communication may also ameliorate potential problems arising from the use of medical terminology.

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Knowledge of Medical Terminology among Hospital Patients

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

A readability comparison of anti- versus pro-influenza vaccination online messages in Japan

A readability comparison of anti- versus pro-influenza vaccination online messages in Japan

Quantifying Word Use to Study Health Literacy in Doctor–Patient Communication

Medical word use in clinical encounters

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