Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1989 Dec 10;109(34):3591-3.

[General practitioners' understanding of unexplained abbreviations].

Tidsskrift for den Norske laegeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny raekke

[Article in Norwegian]
M Nylenna

PMID: 2617488

Abstract

We studied whether 141 doctors in the primary health service understood 13 unexplained abbreviations used in the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association. On average, 95% of the medical abbreviations and 42% of the administrative abbreviations were partly or completely understood (p much less than 0.001). The abbreviation JAMA was unknown to every third doctor, and SD to every fifth doctor. The use of abbreviations in medical literature should be limited, and abbreviations should not be allowed to become a hindrance to communication.

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MeSH terms

• Abbreviations as Topic*
• Family Practice
• Norway
• Terminology as Topic

Publication Types

• English Abstract
• Journal Article