title: Babel babble: physicians' use of unclarified medical jargon with patients.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco/ Center for Vulnerable Populationns, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA, USA. Cesar.Castro@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Cesar M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Clifford
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schillinger
mesh_terms: 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