Does the use of a glossary aid patient understanding of the letters sent to their general practitioner?

Abstract

-The NHS Plan suggests that all patients should be offered copies of letters regarding their treatment which are currently sent from a specialist clinic to their general practitioner (GP). Previous work has suggested that this enhances patient satisfaction, but medical letters can be difficult to understand. This report concerns the production and evaluation of a lung disease glossary to enhance patient understanding of terms used within the letter sent to their GP. Non-clinical staff reviewed 219 letters sent to GPs and words not likely to be understood by patients were listed and used to produce a glossary of 133 terms. One hundred and thirty-one participants from nine respiratory outpatient clinics in a London teaching hospital were sent the glossary and a questionnaire with their copy of the letter also sent to their GP. Of the 131 participants, 93 patients (71%) returned the questionnaire. Eighty-three (89%) found the glossary useful and the number of words checked ranged from 0 to 14 with a median of three words. Those who did not find the glossary useful explained that their understanding was already optimal or that the words they did not understand were not contained within the glossary. This was usually because the words related to non-respiratory comorbidities. This study confirms that the inclusion of a specialty specific glossary with the patients' copy of the letter being sent to their GP is appreciated by patients and appears to aid their understanding.

Developing patient-friendly genetic and genomic test reports: formats to promote patient engagement and understanding

“…There are undoubtedly other possible formats, as well as educational aides (for example, videos), that could be used to promote patient comprehension that are not discussed here. With the increased use of EMR and online portals, there are even greater possibilities for improvement, such as enhancing interface design to include links to additional information (for example, glossary, other websites) to promote comprehension and usability [ 17 , 127 – 129 ]. Using an online system for reviewing results may also present the opportunity to create interactive reports that will further engage the patient and potentially promote increased understanding and recall.…”

Health literacy in COPD

“…However little work has been done to identify the impact of health literacy on compliance in COPD or its effect upon what patients do or do not do in a consultation. We have previously shown how patients do not fully understand the medical letters they receive (Roberts and Partridge 2006) and have tried to provide further information to patients to improve their understanding (Brown et al 2007). However, there is little published evidence regarding the modifying of consultations/guidelines for patients with COPD who might have cognitive problems or limited health literacy.…”

“…However, patients often do not fully understand the medical terms detailed within the letters they receive and the letters to primary care physicians copied to patients have been shown to be quite diffi cult for patients to read (Roberts and Partridge 2006). We designed a respiratory glossary which can be used as a tool in aiding respiratory patients understanding of the letter being sent to their GP (Brown et al 2007). It is important that the magnitude of low health literacy in the population is recognized and instead of trying to identify these vulnerable patient groups, other methods should be used to reinforce the comprehensibility for all patients especially those with longterm conditions.…”

“…Thought might be given to the use of literature and material pre and post consultation as well as during the consultation (Partridge 1999;Brown et al 2007). Using questionnaires either pre-consultation in the waiting room or posting out to patients at home can have some use in aiding the consultation.…”

Optimal consultations for those with respiratory illness

“…However, patients often do not fully understand the terminology within the letters they receive and letters to the referring doctor have been shown to be quite difficult for patients to read [61]. We have designed a respiratory glossary ( figure 3) and shown that this seems to be a useful tool in aiding respiratory patients' understanding of letters sent to their GP [62].…”