Table 3. Selected comments from participants on their preference for the term unresponsive wakefulness syndrome.
Comments are edited for clarity and spelling.
| • [VS] sounds dehumanizing, as if I was demeaning a loved one. |
| • [VS] sounds horrible, like you’re alive in only the same way as a plant and not a human. |
| • [UWS] is less insulting and more accurate. |
| • [VS] makes me think of vegetables, which is deeply offensive. [UWS] is a lot more respectful and you never know if the patient can hear you talking. |
| • [VS] sounds really depressing, and I would feel very upset if my doctor would use it. |
| • [UWS] sounds kinder and respectful. |
| • [VS] is just a step away from the derogatory slang “vegetable”. |
| • [UWS] is more gentile. |
| • [UWS] is a bit less dehumanizing. Also, it feels more medical and as if it could be reversed. |
| • [UWS] sounds more “professional”, more serious. Words like “vegetative state” are insulting because they make it sound as if the patient was an object. |
| • [VS] suggests that these patients are less than human. I wouldn’t want someone I love being described as such. |
| • [VS] takes away all dignity and humanity. |
| • With our current level of medical knowledge, we should never refer to someone who is awake and living as “vegetative”. |
| • [UWS] emphasizes that the patient is “awake” even if not currently responsive. |
| • [UWS] sounds less harsh and explains the condition better. |
| • [UWS] gives more hope for the patient to recover. |
| • [VS] sounds very negative to me, it’s like being compared to a plant. |
| • [UWS] sounds nicer and I believe everyone deserves respect. |
| • [VS] sounds harsh. |
| • [UWS] is more politically correct and sounds more professional. The term vegetable has been historically used as a derogatory term. |
| • [VS] is extremely direct, pejorative, while its euphemism [UWS] is much more polite and tactful. |
| • [UWS] feels more human, more emotional, like the person she was. |
| • [VS] seems pedantic, dehumanizing when they’re still alive. |
| • I believe that the eyes being open is a sign of “wakefulness”. |
| • [VS] reminds me of when it was socially acceptable to call people vegetables. |
| • If I were able to still understand what I was hearing, I would prefer not to be compared to a vegetable since I wouldn’t have much else going for me at that time. |
| • [VS] sounds awful. It’s really comparing you to an inanimate object. |
| • [VS] is insulting, referring to a vegetable and not acknowledging who the person was before. |
| • My mum was in this state for a period, she would have been extremely upset to hear people say [VS]. She is a human and should be referred to with respect, not like a vegetable. |
| • You get shocked by [VS]. I believe that calling it [UWS] takes away the severity of the situation. |
| • [VS] is more used by the media, so it has more negative feelings attached to it. [UWS] feels almost as if there was a cure. |
| • [VS] just sounds weird and offensive and is not very professional. |
| • [VS] sounds more depressing, as if the person was brain-dead. |
| • After watching some stories on Youtube about this topic I think [UWS] sounds more fitting. |
| • The term vegetable has been a mocking term in childhood/youth. It also sounds harsh. |
| • [UWS] is a hopeful term, as if the person is still there. |
| • “Vegetative” is not a decent way to describe anyone. We are all humans, not plants. |
| • [UWS] seems more alive to me. [VS] sounds like death. |
| • [VS] implies that a person is no longer human. |
| • [UWS] gives impression of hope—like any other medical condition. |
| • [UWS] is a hopeful word that sounds as if there could be some conscious activity going on. It gives hope that this is not a permanent state. |
| • I hate the idea of calling someone a vegetable. It sounds so old-fashioned and ignorant. |
| • [UWS] has more emphasis on the fact that the person is awake and only can’t respond. |
| • [VS] sounds terrible, especially if patients can hear what is going on. It could be upsetting and frustrating to them. |
| • [UWS] sounds less cruel and is a more scientific term. |
| • Unlike [UWS], [VS] feels like there is no separation between the person and the condition and that the person is the condition. |
| • [VS] sounds like saying someone is a potato. |
| • [UWS] seems a more polite and caring way of describing the patient’s condition. |
| • Comparing a human being with a vegetable is just unacceptable. |
| • [VS] feels hurtful when it concerns a loved one. |
| • I wouldn’t like to think of a loved one as being a vegetable. Vegetables turn to mush and degrade. |
| • [VS] is rude and pejorative. People are not vegetables. |
| • As her eyes are open, [UWS] seems to fit better. |
| • [VS] has a history of stigmatization. It sounds unethical, offensive and mean. |
| • [UWS] is more explanatory in nature without relying on assumptions. |
| • I believe the term [UWS] gives the patient more dignity. |
| • Too much badness has been said about [VS], i.e., being a cabbage, hateful comments. |
| • [UWS] sounds like a medical term that I have got rather than what I am. |
| • I would like doctors to use [UWS] because it does not sound as definite as [VS]. |
| • [VS] sounds like the patient is a ‘thing’ and has been given up on. |
| • [VS] undermines the individual’s fundamental human dignity. |
| • [UWS] sounds a lot more professional. |