Study shows Welsh people struggle to interpret medical terms

People in Wales are less likely to understand medical jargon according to a YouGov study.

The study delves into how the British public interpret GP notes like those on the NHS app.

It suggests around nine out of every ten people are confused by medical terminology used by healthcare professionals, with the confusion being particularly pronounced in Wales.

The study was commissioned by Lexacom, a company providing voice-to-text technology.

Participants were asked to correctly pair medical terms for symptoms like watering eyes or sudden, shallow breathing with their layman descriptions.

The findings revealed that females were more likely than males to correctly understand the GP notes, with a 14 per cent success rate compared to 7 per cent.

Welsh residents ranked among the lowest in comprehension, with only 9 per cent able to select the accurate description.

The South West had the highest comprehension, with one in five correctly identifying medical terms, and full-time students were more adept (16 per cent) than the unemployed (6 per cent). This confusion could lead to misinterpretation of GP notes, driving health anxiety by making patients think normal symptoms are serious conditions.

Dr Andrew Whiteley, founder of Lexacom and a former GP, said: "While it’s positive that patients can access their own medical records with ease, such as via the NHS app, the issue is that medical terms describing non-serious issues, which are commonly used in a GP surgery, could cause real alarm to patients.

"Empowering patients to improve their health literacy must go hand-in-hand with giving access to medical notes, or it could add burden to an already-stretched healthcare system."

Dr Whiteley established Lexacom to alleviate administrative pressure from healthcare professionals.

It has innovated medical dictation technology, already serving more than 25,000 GPs in the UK.

Lexacom uses a unique 'Comprehension Engine,' which simplifies medical terminology into understandable language.

They do this by employing an NHS-oriented dictionary that automatically translates complicated terms.

The YouGov study exhibited that participants understood medical notes five times better when dictated through Lexacom, with 63 per cent correctly comprehending the medical terms, as opposed to 11 per cent of those who didn't use Lexacom's platform.

Dr Whiteley added: "It’s a win for patients, who have a better understanding of their own health because they can digest what is being communicated to them more easily.

"It’s also a win for GPs, who tell us they can write more detailed notes than when manually typing out correspondence.

"It’s revolutionary because it’s highly accurate, it automatically assigns definitions to medical terms, and it recognises NHS coding too, so can streamline the whole patient journey."

Finally, Dr Whiteley highlighted the immense potential such technologies could have in enhancing patient-doctor relationships and the larger healthcare system. Common symptoms explained in medical terminology as shown by the study are: • Watering eyes – epiphora • Shortness of breath – dyspnoea • Pinpoint pupils – miosis • Rapid, shallow breathing – tachypnoea • Low blood pressure – hypotension • Raised blood pressure – hypertension. All figures featured originate from YouGov Plc, an unbiased, independent organisation.

The data was extracted from a sample of 2,078 adults and has been accordingly weighted to be representative of all UK adults aged 18 and above.