Yes, according to three researchers, including Kendrick A. Davis of the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, who argue in an invited commentary that the use of emoji in health careThe commentary, titled"Interpreting Emoji: A Language for Enhancing Communication in Health Care," published today in, advances a strong case for the use of emoji to improve communication between patients and physicians.
"Surveys are usually circulated to patients in a variety of different stages of their care. But many surveys are wrought with language that can introduce a barrier," he said."This is where emoji, which are friendly and universally utilized, come into play by replacing survey language that can be hard for some patients to understand."
"This barrier could be difficulty speaking while being mechanically ventilated," Davis said."A patient could also simply not be able to speak while receiving clinical care. Emoji can be helpful in such situations with the patient simply pointing to an emoji on a scale to indicate how they feel. Emoji can also be useful in countries where illiteracy is high."
Despite the popularity of emoji, Davis believes a large population worldwide is not aware of their power.