569 - Medical Jargon: The unseen barrier in patient care

Sunday, April 30, 2023

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Poster Number: 569
Publication Number: 569.326

Anmol Gupta, Baylor College of Medicine, Richmond, TX, United States; Sarah Samuel, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States; Margaret Wood, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States; Aditi Gupta, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Anmol Gupta, BA (he/him/his)

Medical Student
Baylor College of Medicine
Richmond, Texas, United States

Co-Author(s)

Sarah Samuel (she/her/hers)

Medical Student
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States

Background: Medical jargon, defined as words with specific medical meanings that do not have a common understanding in the general population, is a common barrier in communicating with patients. Using medical jargon in discussions with patients can create misunderstanding of care and a decreased ability to make well informed decisions. What makes a word medical jargon may depend on the word itself, how it is used, and the context of the individual patient. By better understanding what constitutes medical jargon, providers can more intentionally communicate clearly and improve quality of care.

Objective: To describe and quantify variances in recognition and perceptions of medical jargon among medical trainees and faculty.

Design/Methods: A survey consisting of 20 individual sentences containing previously identified jargon words from a prior educational simulation (conducted by study authors) was created with Qualtrics and distributed via email to medical students (MS), residents, and faculty at our institution. Participants were asked to classify medical jargon by identifying individual words or phrases that could be confusing to a patient or their family.

Results: A total of 82 individuals (21 MS; 28 residents; 33 faculty) completed the survey of which 70 identified at least one word considered to be medical jargon. Out of a total of 498 words, 77 words (15 percent) were identified as jargon by at least five percent of all respondents [Figure 1] and 49 percent of these words were identified by at least 10 percent of individuals across all trainee levels. Faculty classified 10 percent more words as medical jargon compared to residents and 21 percent more compared to MS; residents classified 11 percent more words as medical jargon compared to MS [Figure 2; Table 1].

Conclusion(s): We hypothesized that an increase in training level will correlate with a decreased ability to recognize jargon given an increased comfort with terminology use among more senior level trainees. Instead, the awareness of jargon use appears to increase with one’s level of training. Through experience, providers have a better understanding of what constitutes jargon and may hinder patient communication. This increased self-awareness may encourage providers to 1) utilize different words when engaging in conversations with patients and 2) more proactively ask patients to verify understanding. Active programming that focuses on the use of plain language early in clinical training may help trainees build these effective communication skills more quickly.