Resumen

MULET PEREZ, Agustín M. et al. Popular and professional perception of the meaning of the word "empacho". ACIMED [online]. 2008, vol.17, n.6. ISSN 1024-9435.

In oder to establish the popular and professional criteria of the meaning of the word empacho, their similarities and divergences, two exploratory and parallel investigations were carried out from August, 2005, to December 2006. In the popular dimension, all the inhabitants of Holguín municipality were considered as the universe, and an intentional sample of 158 people over 18, ready to cooperate, was selected. On the other hand, the professional universe was composed of all the pediatricians, surgeons and gastroenterologists who give attention to adult patients in the three provincial hospitals of the territory. Both intended samples included 17 pediatricians and 10 gastroenterologists, respectively. All of them had more than 10 years of professional experience, and had seen patients suffering from empacho. The most frequent definition in the popular criterion was "paralysis of the digestion", followed by "indigestion". Most the pediatricians identified the empacho with the word indigestion. The gastroenterologists also selected indigestion and, together with it, "a disorder with marked reduction of the gastric motility". In this case, it is observed a greater similarity with the popular criteria that associates the term empacho with a paralysis of digestion.

Palabras clave : Popular terminology; medical terminology; empacho.

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