(Poster 25) What Patients Call Gynecological Conditions: A Qualitative Study

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

Methods: This observational qualitative study was conducted at an urban academic hospital. Adult female patients (aged 18 and older) seen in the gynecology clinic were included, and those younger than 18 and non-English speakers were excluded. Individual 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 and conditions were investigated using natural language processing (NLP) techniques including lemmatization, text similarity, and sentiment.

Results: 30 patients were enrolled and 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 or achieved a bachelor’s degree 26 (86.6%). Almost half of the women had not been pregnant, 14 (46.7%). While many patients used some medically 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 that there are communication problems between providers and patients resulting in misunderstandings and a lack of trust.

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