Lost in Translation: Teenagers' Understanding of Common Medical Jargon.

Q1 Nursing
Aarabhi S Rajagopal, Marissa A Hendrickson, Michael B Pitt, Michelle M Kelly, Scott Lunos, Sage Marmet, Brett Norling, Madeline Suk, Katherine A Allen, Emily Hause, Zachary M Linneman, Rheanne Maravelas, Alexis Quade, Jordan Marmet
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Abstract

Background: In health care conversations, clinicians continue to use medical jargon despite assuming they are communicating clearly, causing confusion for patients. Prior studies have evaluated adults' perception of medical jargon, but few studies have evaluated how teenagers perceive it.

Objectives: To characterize teenagers' comprehension of common phrases used in medical settings via a cross-sectional, survey-based investigation.

Methods: A total of 71 teenagers aged between 13 and 17 years were recruited at the 2023 Minnesota State Fair to participate in an anonymous survey assessing their understanding of common phrases a doctor might say or write. Responses were coded as correct, partially correct, or incorrect by 2 independent researchers, with a third reconciling discrepancies. Secondary analyses evaluated the associations between participant demographics and understanding.

Results: Teenagers demonstrated a poor understanding of many phrases evaluated. While 97% knew that "negative cancer screening" results meant they did not have cancer, fewer (69%) understood that "the tumor is progressing" was unwelcome news. More teenagers understood "your blood test shows me you do not have an infection in your blood" (89%) vs "your blood culture was negative" (52%). Only 10% understood that "bugs in the urine" conveyed a urinary tract infection, with 37% expressing a literal interpretation. None knew what was meant by an "occult infection" nor by "febrile," with 13% believing that it was related to fertility or sexual activity.

Conclusions: Teenagers frequently misunderstood common phrases used within a medical context, with interpretations, at times, representing the opposite of what a health care provider intended.

迷失在翻译中:青少年对常见医学术语的理解。
背景:在医疗保健谈话中,临床医生继续使用医学术语,尽管他们认为他们已经清楚地沟通,给患者造成困惑。先前的研究评估了成年人对医学术语的理解,但很少有研究评估青少年是如何理解的。目的:通过横断面、基于调查的调查来描述青少年对医疗环境中常用短语的理解。方法:在2023年明尼苏达州博览会上招募了71名年龄在13至17岁之间的青少年参加一项匿名调查,评估他们对医生可能说或写的常用短语的理解程度。2名独立研究人员将回答编码为正确、部分正确或不正确,第三名研究人员对差异进行调和。二次分析评估了参与者人口统计学和理解之间的关系。结果:青少年表现出对许多短语的理解不佳。虽然97%的人知道“癌症筛查阴性”意味着他们没有癌症,但更少(69%)的人知道“肿瘤正在发展”是不受欢迎的消息。更多的青少年理解“你的血液检查显示你的血液中没有感染”(89%)和“你的血液培养呈阴性”(52%)。只有10%的人理解“尿中的虫子”传达了尿路感染,37%的人表达了字面上的解释。没有人知道“隐性感染”和“发热”是什么意思,13%的人认为这与生育能力或性行为有关。结论:青少年经常误解医学背景下使用的常用短语,其解释有时与卫生保健提供者的意图相反。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Hospital pediatrics
Hospital pediatrics Nursing-Pediatrics
CiteScore
3.70
自引率
0.00%
发文量
204
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