An open and easy communication is the key to building doctor-patient relationships. It has become increasingly important for doctors to use the right language with their patients. Since doctor-patient communication may include complex technical language and/or medical terminology, it is often difficult for patients to understand their own diagnoses or treatment plans. The purpose of this research was to understand the relationship between physician use of medical terminology and patient satisfaction. An online research survey was sent to 250 random patients at selected clinics/hospitals during February 2019; responses were received from 39 patients. Questions were asked about the participants' use of primary care physicians and some questions regarding their familiarity with medical terminology. Survey responses showed that the use of common, simple language at patient visits plays a large role in building patients’ trust and understanding. Therefore, there is a need for doctors to use simple language with their patients when discussing their diagnoses or treatment plans.
","abstract_html":"<p>An open and easy communication is the key to building doctor-patient relationships. It has become increasingly important for doctors to use the right language with their patients. Since doctor-patient communication may include complex technical language and/or medical terminology, it is often difficult for patients to understand their own diagnoses or treatment plans. The purpose of this research was to understand the relationship between physician use of medical terminology and patient satisfaction. An online research survey was sent to 250 random patients at selected clinics/hospitals during February 2019; responses were received from 39 patients. Questions were asked about the participants' use of primary care physicians and some questions regarding their familiarity with medical terminology. Survey responses showed that the use of common, simple language at patient visits plays a large role in building patients’ trust and understanding. Therefore, there is a need for doctors to use simple language with their patients when discussing their diagnoses or treatment plans.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dabhi, Rutu"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Health Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Irwin Martin, Ph.D.","Jean Rowan, MD, MS."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:33Z","subjects":["Medicine and Health Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/985","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Irwin Martin, Ph.D.","Jean Rowan, MD, MS."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dabhi, Rutu"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-09-26T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Health Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Medicine and Health Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/985"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["An open and easy communication is the key to building doctor-patient relationships. It has become increasingly important for doctors to use the right language with their patients. Since doctor-patient communication may include complex technical language and/or medical terminology, it is often difficult for patients to understand their own diagnoses or treatment plans. The purpose of this research was to understand the relationship between physician use of medical terminology and patient satisfaction. An online research survey was sent to 250 random patients at selected clinics/hospitals during February 2019; responses were received from 39 patients. Questions were asked about the participants' use of primary care physicians and some questions regarding their familiarity with medical terminology. Survey responses showed that the use of common, simple language at patient visits plays a large role in building patients’ trust and understanding. Therefore, there is a need for doctors to use simple language with their patients when discussing their diagnoses or treatment plans.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Impact of physicians’ medical jargon use on patient behavior"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Irwin Martin, Ph.D.","Jean Rowan, MD, MS."],"dc:creator":["Dabhi, Rutu"],"dc:date.available":["2019-09-26T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["An open and easy communication is the key to building doctor-patient relationships. It has become increasingly important for doctors to use the right language with their patients. Since doctor-patient communication may include complex technical language and/or medical terminology, it is often difficult for patients to understand their own diagnoses or treatment plans. The purpose of this research was to understand the relationship between physician use of medical terminology and patient satisfaction. An online research survey was sent to 250 random patients at selected clinics/hospitals during February 2019; responses were received from 39 patients. Questions were asked about the participants' use of primary care physicians and some questions regarding their familiarity with medical terminology. Survey responses showed that the use of common, simple language at patient visits plays a large role in building patients’ trust and understanding. Therefore, there is a need for doctors to use simple language with their patients when discussing their diagnoses or treatment plans.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/985"],"dc:subject":["Medicine and Health Sciences"],"dc:title":["Impact of physicians’ medical jargon use on patient behavior"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Health Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:33Z"}