Knowledge of medical terminology among clients and families.
This descriptive correlational study replicated Byrne and Edeani's (1984) investigation of hospitalized clients' (N = 25) knowledge of 50 common medical terms. The present study also included 25 family members. The mean number of correct responses was 46 (of 50) with no difference between clients and families. Only nine terms were correctly understood by all respondents. Older persons with higher education and moderate length of illness had higher scores. Participants in the present study scored significantly higher than those in the prior research especially on terms related to breast cancer and heart disease. Clients and family members may not understand medical terms as well as nurses think they do and may need consistent assessment of knowledge in the context of patient teaching.
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D003071:Cognition; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic