Assessing the Understanding of Medical Terminology in Vocational Medical Record and Health Information Students

Abstract

Objectives:

Medical terminology is a language used by professionals in the health sector. A good understanding of medical terminology is very important for medical record students to support accuracy in recording and managing patient data. Lack of understanding of medical terms can have an impact on misinterpretation of clinical information.   The purpose to determine differences in student understanding based on student demographic characteristics.

 Methodology:

The approach used was a cross-sectional study with the dependent variable is student understanding of medical terminology and the independent variable is student demographic characteristics. Data collection used a stratified random sampling technique with 97 students as respondents. Data analysis used univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis.

 Results:

The results of the study showed differences in understanding of medical terminology based on academic year (p = 0.016) and pre-university education background (p = 0.045). However, there was no difference in understanding of medical terminology based on gender (p = 0.143), class type (p = 0.809), age (p = 0.766), and campus location (p = 0.995).

 Conclusion:

This study shows that students' understanding of medical terminology does not show significant differences based on gender, class type, age, or campus location. However, there are significant differences based on academic year and pre-university educational background.