The understanding of medical terminology used in printed health education materials

Abstract

SELF -ADMINISTERED, multiple-choice question naires were completed by 120 patients and students in order to assess their medical vocabulary knowledge. The fifteen test words were taken from printed health education materials. It was apparent that many respondents had problems with the words, in particular, those of low social status or low educational achieve ment. The scores of students, however, were not signifi cantly higher than those of the patients. It is suggested that all health education materials be carefully screened for medical words, although they may have high readability scores. Even seemingly simple medical words should be explained in simple terms, or should be included in a glossary. This practice should increase understanding and recall.