Medical Nomenclature and Patient Understanding: Lessons from the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome to Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome Transition
Uchechukwu Bethel Abioke
*
Department of Physiotherapy, Basic Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Chinyere Elohor Egbordi
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Basic and Applied Biological Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Obiageri Ihuarulam Okeoma
Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Basic Medical and Applied Sciences, Trinity University Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Owolabi Ololade Funmilayo
Department of Nursing Science, Afe Babalola University, Ado -Ekiti, Nigeria.
Adibe Nnanyelugo Pius
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Medical nomenclature can influence patients, clinicians, diagnostic accuracy, and health outcomes. On 12 May 2026, after a multi-year global consensus process, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was formally renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). The change reflected the recognition that the older term was scientifically imprecise and could contribute to delayed diagnosis, fragmented care, stigma, and limited patient understanding.
Objectives: Using the PCOS-to-PMOS transition as a case study, this narrative review examines how an imprecise name may contribute to diagnostic delay, stigma, clinician confusion, and poorer outcomes. It synthesises evidence across five linked questions: how disease names shape patient understanding and health literacy; how they contribute to diagnostic delay and misdiagnosis; how they relate to stigma and psychosocial burden; how they influence clinician decision-making and care coordination; and what these effects imply for healthcare quality and patient safety.
Methods: A narrative review of peer-reviewed literature, professional society publications, and grey literature was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and professional society websites. Search terms related to the phenomenon of interest, including “disease nomenclature,” “disease naming,” and “medical terminology,” were combined with terms describing its proposed effects, including “patient understanding,” “health literacy,” “diagnostic delay,” “stigma,” and “medical cognition,” and with condition-specific terms, including “PCOS,” “polycystic ovary syndrome,” and “PMOS.” Priority was given to studies addressing the effects of disease names on diagnosis, clinical outcomes, and health literacy.
Findings: The evidence indicates that an imprecise name can weaken diagnostic accuracy through identifiable cognitive pathways. Cognitive load theory, conceptual anchoring, and semantic priming together explain how a name shapes patients’ and clinicians’ understanding. Historical reforms, from “hysteria” to specific diagnoses and from “Mongolism” to Down syndrome, show that more accurate naming has accompanied improved recognition and care. PCOS affects approximately one in eight women, or more than 170 million worldwide, yet up to 70% may remain undiagnosed or face diagnostic delays of several years. The PMOS revision illustrates how evidence-based terminology can be aligned with current scientific understanding.
Conclusions: Medical terminology is not merely semantic; it shapes clinical reasoning, patient comprehension, and diagnostic and therapeutic pathways, with potential consequences for outcomes. The PCOS-to-PMOS transition shows that systematic, evidence-based nomenclature change is feasible and that disease names should reflect scientific understanding while supporting optimal care. Healthcare systems should treat nomenclature accuracy as a component of quality improvement and patient safety.
Keywords: Medical nomenclature, disease naming, patient understanding, health literacy, diagnostic delay, stigma, cognitive load, conceptual anchoring, PMOS, nomenclature change, terminology accuracy