What Patients Call Gynaecological Conditions: A Qualitative Study

This study identifies specific language used for common problems seen in gynaecology.

To better identify language used by patients for gynaecological conditions and understand how these terms may differ between communities.

Observational qualitative study.

An urban academic hospital.

Adult female patients (aged 18 and older) seen in the gynaecology clinic were included, and those younger than 18 and non-English speakers were excluded.

Interviews using a structured interview guide were conducted. New patients were enrolled in the study until the point of theoretical saturation. Key terms were identified and trends involving symptoms were investigated using natural language processing (NLP) techniques including lemmatization, text similarity and sentiment.

Terminology gathered from study interviews was described.

Thirty patients completed the study. Study participants included 12 (40%) Black patients, 9 (30%) White, 4 (13.3%) Hispanic and 3 (10.3%) Asian. Participants were equally distributed in age and most participants had attended some college 26 (86.6%). Almost half of the women had not been pregnant, 14 (46.7%). While many patients used some medical specific terminology, many also used symptoms specific common terms that were more descriptive of their experience. Patients identified 'cysts' more commonly than 'fibroids' and were concerned about cancer. Overwhelmingly patients identified communication problems between providers and patients resulting in misunderstandings and a lack of trust.

By starting with identifying specific language used and expanding to identifying overall themes, we can improve understanding between patients and providers.