Babel babble: physicians' use of unclarified medical jargon with patients.
OBJECTIVE
To describe physicians use of jargon with diabetes patients with limited health literacy.


METHODS
We audiotaped 74 outpatient encounters and coded unclarified jargon, assigning each term a clinical function. We administered telephone questionnaires to determine if comprehension of diabetes-related jargon varied with context.


RESULTS
Eighty-one percent of encounters contained at least one unclarified jargon term (mean of 4/visit). Thirty-seven percent of jargon use occurred when making recommendations, and 29% when providing health education. Patient comprehension rates were generally low and never reached adequate thresholds.


CONCLUSIONS
Physicians caring for patients with limited health literacy employ unclarified jargon during key clinical functions.
Castro
Cesar M
CM
Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco/ Center for Vulnerable Populationns, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA, USA. Cesar.Castro@ucsf.edu
Wilson
Clifford
C
Wang
Frances
F
Schillinger
Dean
D
D003142:Communication; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires