Evaluation of teach-back and plain language acceptability during patient interactions

Area of Science:

• Health communication
• Patient education
• Medical terminology

Background:

• Effective clinician-patient communication is crucial for health outcomes.
• The use of teach-back and plain language strategies aims to improve patient understanding.
• Limited research exists on patient acceptability of these communication techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate patient acceptability of clinicians using teach-back and plain language.
• To compare preferences for plain language versus jargon in health explanations.
• To assess the impact of teach-back on patient perception of clarity.

Main Methods:

• 162 undergraduates participated in a 30-minute survey.
• Participants rated two doctor-patient interactions explaining multiple sclerosis and diabetes.
• Interaction types included jargon only, jargon+teach-back, plain language only, and plain language+teach-back.

Main Results:

• Plain language was significantly preferred over jargon for both multiple sclerosis and diabetes explanations.
• Teach-back was favored over no teach-back for multiple sclerosis but not for diabetes.
• Participants reported higher familiarity with diabetes compared to multiple sclerosis.

Conclusions:

• Clinicians should prioritize plain language and avoid excessive jargon.
• Employing teach-back questions enhances patient engagement, particularly with unfamiliar information.
• Patient acceptability is a key factor in the adoption of communication strategies.