College students' knowledge of concepts related to the metabolic syndrome

This paper explores lay understanding of illnesses related to the metabolic syndrome (MetS), a constellation of metabolic derailments associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases. Because lifestyle factors play an important role in preventing the metabolic syndrome, physicians need to convey the need for lifestyle changes to their patients. In order to do this comprehensibly, pre-existing lay knowledge must be taken into account. Until now, research on lay medical knowledge has shown that lay and expert conceptual understandings often diverge, but has focused solely on content-related aspects of lay knowledge. In a questionnaire study with a college student lay sample, we investigated both the content and structure of lay knowledge on illness terms related to the metabolic syndrome. While a descriptive content analysis illustrates lay concept representations, the analysis of lay knowledge's structure suggests that a "lay kind of illness script" is a useful conceptualization of lay illness knowledge. Implications of our findings for doctor-patient communication are discussed.