A Questionnaire Survey of Primary Care Physicians on Dialects in the Hokushinetsu Region -A Quantitative and Qualitative Study of Dialects and Physicians' Perceptions-
10.14442/generalist.44.147
- VernacularTitle:北信越地方の方言に関するプライマリ・ケア医へのアンケート調査―頻用方言と医師の認識に関する量的・質的検討―
- Author:
Keiichiro KITA
;
Yoshiaki TAKASE
;
Mayuko SAITO
;
Moe KURODA
;
Kaku KURODA
;
Maiko KUROIWA
;
Seiji YAMASHIRO
- Keywords:
primary care physician;
dialect;
Hokushinetsu region;
the Japanese language
- From:An Official Journal of the Japan Primary Care Association
2021;44(4):147-156
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
Introduction: Primary care (PC) physicians often struggle with the local dialects of patients, especially when they work away from their hometowns.Method: We conducted a questionnaire survey of PC physicians in the Hokushinetsu region, the northcentral part of Honshu island of Japan, to understand how doctors recognize and deal with local dialects in their daily clinical practice.We also analyzed their comments qualitatively using the Steps for Coding and Theorization (SCAT) method.Results: Thirty-one physicians (21 men and 10 women) completed the questionnaire. Of the total, 71% of respondents worked away from their hometowns.Moreover, 81.8% of these respondents stated they had difficulties understanding the dialect spoken in the region of their workplaces and 36.3% misunderstood the meanings of the dialect spoken by their local patients as a result. Respondents often heard "ui" or "tekinai" as the chief complaints of local patients, and interpreted these words as physical symptoms such as fatigue, dyspnea, and abdominal distension. SCAT analysis suggested that these words can have different meanings depending on the context. PC physicians translate them into medical terms using paraphrasing techniques based on each patient's medical history. Furthermore, PC physicians use dialects according to their relationship with the patient.Conclusion: Understanding the characteristics of these dialects and using them appropriately may improve the doctor-patient relationship.
