Clinical Scorecard: Patients’ Perspectives on Judgmental and Disrespectful Language in Medical Records
At a Glance
Category
Detail
Condition
Patient-reported disrespectful or judgmental language (DJL) in medical records or during health care
Key Mechanisms
The article defines stigmatizing language as terminology that communicates disbelief, disapproval, or implicit judgment regarding a patient’s character, behavior, or social identity. It states that such language can contribute to implicit bias, perpetuate unfavorable stereotypes, and potentially affect clinical decision-making and patient experiences.
Target Population
US adults; the prespecified final analytic sample comprised 500 individuals.
Care Setting
Online survey of US adults; portal users reported on language in medical records, while nonportal users reported on language during care.
Key Highlights
The study aimed to measure how often US adults reported DJL, describe anticipated consequences, and assess factors associated with DJL reports and documentation trust.
YouGov collected data for a cross-sectional online survey from November 21 to December 4, 2025. Poststratification used age, gender, race and ethnicity, education, and geographic region, with American Community Survey benchmarks; the source says this approach was intended to lessen sampling bias.
The primary outcome was self-reported DJL in a respondent’s own medical records or those of a loved one.
Documentation trust was defined as confidence that clinicians describe patients accurately and respectfully in notes.
The supplied excerpt describes study design and measures but does not include study results.
Guideline-Based Recommendations
Diagnosis
The survey assessed self-reported DJL. For portal users, exposure referred to language in the patient’s or a loved one’s medical record; for nonportal users, it referred to DJL during care.
Management
No clinical management recommendations are described in the supplied text.
Monitoring & Follow-up
The study assessed documentation trust and anticipated effects of DJL on health outcomes, care from subsequent providers, and intention to return to a clinician; confirm these outcomes against the complete source before retaining them.
Risks
The article states that stigmatizing language can contribute to implicit bias, perpetuate unfavorable stereotypes, and potentially affect clinical decision-making and patients’ experiences.
Patient & Prescribing Data
Survey of US adults; the prespecified final analytic sample comprised 500 individuals. The source describes poststratification weighting intended to lessen sampling bias.
No treatment or prescribing intervention is described in the supplied text.
Clinical Best Practices
The article defines stigmatizing language as terminology that communicates disbelief, disapproval, or implicit judgment regarding a patient’s character, behavior, or social identity.
The survey instrument was assessed for plain language and readability.
The study received institutional review board approval and digital informed consent; only deidentified data were provided to the study team.
