ABSTRACT
Purpose: To clarify the differences in the interpretation between the medical staffs and the patients / their families (hereinafter called “patients-families”) when the wording like “a yearly, monthly or weekly basis” and “the words suggesting seasons” are used on the medical sites. Method: The questionnaires were provided to both the medical staffs and the patients-families. Results: Regarding “a yearly basis”, 100% of the medical staffs use as “less than five years” and 67.1% of the patients-families interpret the same. Regarding “a monthly basis”, 100% of the medical staffs use as “less than six months” and 68.3% of the patients-families interpret the same. Regarding “a weekly basis”, 100% of the medical staffs use it as “less than eight weeks”, whereas it is 77.2% of the patients-families that interpret so. Approximately 20% of the patients-families have no ideas about the wording like “a yearly, monthly and weekly basis”. When the medical staffs mention “the cherry blossom season”, 71.4% of them are trying to indicate “the late March” or “the early April”, on the other hand, it is 58.9% of the patients-families that understand so. Regarding the expressions like “the season when the leaves turn red”, “the time when it gets warmer” or “the time when it gets colder”, there is not definite mutual understanding between the medical staffs and the patients-families. Conclusion: This awareness survey shows there is a case that the medical staffs and the patients-families may differ in the interpretation of words commonly used on medical sites.