The Layman's Medical Vocabulary

The layman's medical vocabulary. A study of illness definitions and perceived need for medical care. Allander, E. and Håkanson, E. (Dept. of Social Medicine, Huddinge University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, and Institute of Linguistics, University of Stockholm, Sweden).

A knowledge of the layman's illness concepts is of value both for diagnosis and therapy in the practical application of the medical services. It is also valuable for the estimation of morbidity and of the need for medical assistance.

The present article describes an investigation intended to throw light on the import of ten different illness concepts and on the implications these may have for the utilization of the medical services. The study is based on interviews with 100 middle-aged women.

Most of the respondents considered that an illness may have many causes—a multifactorial aetiology. Great differences between the illnesses were noted with respect to the opinions as to whether examination by a doctor was necessary for diagnosis. The interpretations as to whether an illness needed treatment—medical attention, medicine, hospital care—seemed however to be more closely related to its duration than to its nature. A long duration was regarded by a surprisingly large number as a sign that hospitalization was required—even in the case of a common cold!

Only 8% considered obesity ‘serious’. As regards the choice of illness alternatives, earlier experience of illness influenced this only in the case of ‘shortness of breath’ and ‘nervous symptoms’. Social class was not found to affect the type of answer.