Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhou, Yiliang, Hu, Di, Lyu, Tianchu, Dhillon, Jasmine, Beck, Alexandra L., Sadigh, Gelareh, Zheng, Kai
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.07462
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866915486169563136
author Zhou, Yiliang
Hu, Di
Lyu, Tianchu
Dhillon, Jasmine
Beck, Alexandra L.
Sadigh, Gelareh
Zheng, Kai
author_facet Zhou, Yiliang
Hu, Di
Lyu, Tianchu
Dhillon, Jasmine
Beck, Alexandra L.
Sadigh, Gelareh
Zheng, Kai
contents Stigmatizing language results in healthcare inequities, yet there is no universally accepted or standardized lexicon defining which words, terms, or phrases constitute stigmatizing language in healthcare. We conducted a systematic search of the literature to identify existing stigmatizing language lexicons and then analyzed them comparatively to examine: 1) similarities and discrepancies between these lexicons, and 2) the distribution of positive, negative, or neutral terms based on an established sentiment dataset. Our search identified four lexicons. The analysis results revealed moderate semantic similarity among them, and that most stigmatizing terms are related to judgmental expressions by clinicians to describe perceived negative behaviors. Sentiment analysis showed a predominant proportion of negatively classified terms, though variations exist across lexicons. Our findings underscore the need for a standardized lexicon and highlight challenges in defining stigmatizing language in clinical texts.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_07462
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Understanding Stigmatizing Language Lexicons: A Comparative Analysis in Clinical Contexts
Zhou, Yiliang
Hu, Di
Lyu, Tianchu
Dhillon, Jasmine
Beck, Alexandra L.
Sadigh, Gelareh
Zheng, Kai
Computation and Language
Stigmatizing language results in healthcare inequities, yet there is no universally accepted or standardized lexicon defining which words, terms, or phrases constitute stigmatizing language in healthcare. We conducted a systematic search of the literature to identify existing stigmatizing language lexicons and then analyzed them comparatively to examine: 1) similarities and discrepancies between these lexicons, and 2) the distribution of positive, negative, or neutral terms based on an established sentiment dataset. Our search identified four lexicons. The analysis results revealed moderate semantic similarity among them, and that most stigmatizing terms are related to judgmental expressions by clinicians to describe perceived negative behaviors. Sentiment analysis showed a predominant proportion of negatively classified terms, though variations exist across lexicons. Our findings underscore the need for a standardized lexicon and highlight challenges in defining stigmatizing language in clinical texts.
title Understanding Stigmatizing Language Lexicons: A Comparative Analysis in Clinical Contexts
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.07462