The researchers found that nearly 27% of participants did not speak English as a first language, which is a higher rate than London as a whole, at 22%, they note. But when the researchers looked just at those whose first language was English, they saw no differences in the number of correct answers based on educational level.
The study authors did not respond to a request for comments.
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providers in many fields, including emergency room settings, surgery requiring anesthetics and breast cancer clinics, grapple with how best to effectively communicate with patients.
Efforts to bridge this gap include encouraging the use of plainer language in written materials and providing interpreting services for non-English speakers.
Eisig notes that some of the biggest challenges to effectively communicating with patients stem from growing bureaucracy within healthcare and are not so easily remedied.
“Over the past decade or so there have been many changes to healthcare, many of which are driven by finances. Some of these changes aren’t always beneficial,” he says.
“Frequently the doctor’s back may be to the patient as entries are being made into the electronic health record. Doctor-patient communication is now being done increasingly through email. These are just two examples that may lead to communication failures because practitioners are spending less time with patients, which results in diminished relationships thus increasing the likelihood for patient misinterpretation.”
Reference
1.Hayes E, Dua R, Yeung E, et al. Patient understanding of commonly used oral medicine terminology. Br Dent J. 2018 Jan;223(11):842-845. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2017.991. Epub 2017 Dec 1.
