DOI: 10.36347/sjds.2019.v06i04.008

Pages: 248-252

Background: Medical language frequently contains linguistic forms that create social distance between Physicians and patients, which in turn results in poor patient communication as the Physician uses it to modulate his interaction with the patient. Often, use of jargon leads to the inability of the patient to understand what the Physician is saying, but through a reversed logical process, the Physician is considered a good doctor when he or she speaks an incomprehensible language. The aim of this study was to assess the acceptance and use of Jargon in case history taking among Dental Practitioners. Materials and Methods: In this exploratory study, data were collected from 290 private Dental Practitioners, using a convenient sampling design. Information was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (i.e., mean, standard deviation, percentages) and t-test was employed in Statistical analysis. Results: All the 290 respondents used jargon in case history taking. Approximately 100% of the respondents admitted that they always used Jargon and 63.4% admitted of using Jargon only when there was a lack of time. The majority of the respondents (40%) learned the jargon from their colleagues. Approximately 100% of the respondents admitted use of jargon in a history section. Approximately 70.6% were of the opinion that abbreviations should be permitted in case history taking. Conclusion: This study showed widespread use of jargon/abbreviations in case history taking among the respondents. There is a lack of knowledge regarding standard Medical abbreviations.