Are your patients smarter than a 5th grader?
Monday, March 8th, 2010I went to a noon lunch and learn given by my medical malpractice carrier, and the speaker reminded us that most patients have a 5th grade understanding of medical jargon. He told us to tailor our conversations and handouts to this level of understanding. I had heard this before and have tried to use this as a guide in my conversations with patients.
I was paging through the Annals of Internal Medicine, and there at the back are summaries of articles that can be given to patients. (I’m not sure why you would want to give a patient a summary of a double blind placebo controlled randomized study, but just in case you do, Annals has it for you!) Anyway, there was a sheet you could tear out and give to patients summarizing “Cost-Effectiveness of Different Types of Evaluations Before Sports Participation in Young Adults.” I quote the paragraph entitled, “What is the problem and what is known about it so far?”
In the United States, sudden death in young people participating in competitive sports occurs at a low rate. Previously unknown heart disease is the leading cause of these deaths. Major medical organizations recommend that young athletes be evaluated for heart disease before they participate in organized sports. The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recommend a medical history and physical examination, with further testing if history or examination is abnormal. The European Society of Cardiology and the International Olympic Committee recommend including electrocardiography (ECG); this test records the electrical impulses of the heart and provides information about abnormal heart rhythms and other heart conditions.”
Wow. You’d have to be some fifth grader to make heads or tails of that paragraph! If I was a fifth grader, I could care less about the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, as well as the European Society of Cardiology. I might care about the Internal Olympic Committee, if I envisioned myself as the next Lindsey Vonn, but other than that, the entire paragraph would mean nothing to me.
Should I send Annals the hand out from my malpractice insurer to help them make hand out sheets that are actually readable?