S2972 Understanding the Language Gap: Patient Comprehension of GI Terms in Clinical Practice

Introduction: Healthcare professionals often tend to use common jargon when speaking with patients. Although these terms may sound familiar, they can carry different meanings in medical context. While this language ensures precision among healthcare professionals, it can lead to misunderstanding and serious consequences for patients. In this study, we aim to characterize the understanding of common medical jargon terms utilizing a questionnaire-based survey. Methods: This is a cross sectional, questionnaire-based study, conducted in patients or their attendants visiting Gastroenterology clinic at Texas Tech University Health Sciences, El Paso. Participants indicated their understanding of common terms or phrases, by answer to multiple-choice questions. that may have different meanings in medicine than in colloquial English/Spanish language. Ten questions included paired phrases to assess for differences in understanding with or without jargon. This study was conducted after approval by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Institutional Review Board. Results: Total 245 participated in the study between July to October 2024. There were 159 (64.90%) women and 86 (35.10%) men. Mean age (SD) of participants was 58.58 (15.61) years. Overall correct responses were 67.79% and incorrect responses were 33.21% with range for 16.89% to 96.36% individual question/ phrase. Interestingly, there was no statistically difference in correct responses in participants with 3 different educational level (no to elementary education level, mid to high school education level and bachelor degree or above), P-value is 0.0946. Similar trends are seen on subgroup analysis. Further, there was no statistically difference in correct responses in participants with different age groups (divided in 4 age groups), P-value is 0.3922. Conclusion: These findings suggest that many common phrases are misunderstood by patients and their attendants when used in a medical setting, with the interpreted meaning frequently very different from what is intended. Our study indicates around 30% of commonly used phrases are inadequately understood, this can lead to problems in compliance and patient treatment. Thus, usage of phrases and common medical terms needs to be optimized for adequate communication patient understanding and compliance.