A Case Study of the Impact of Language Concordance on Patient Care, Satisfaction, and Comfort with Sharing Sensitive Information During Medical Care

Abstract

Linguistic barriers continue to be a source of difficulty and inappropriate treatment in our healthcare system. Several studies have shown the importance of language concordance, which leads to increased trust and higher patient satisfaction. The aim of this is study is to determine patients' satisfaction and comfort levels with sharing sensitive information in Spanish with either the health care provider or an interpreter, respectively, and to compare the results to find out if there is an option that patients prefer. There were two different groups of participants in the study. The experimental group was directly seen by Spanish-speaking student doctors while the control group was seen by English-speaking student doctors that had the aid of an interpreter. Several questions were asked to participants via survey in order to measure their comfort levels during the encounter. The results of this study demonstrate that having Spanish-speaking healthcare providers providing health care to Hispanic patients can raise patients' comfort levels and satisfaction in contrast to having the aid of an interpreter. Providing second language training to student doctors can potentially improve patient care and reduce health inequities facing LEP patients. Given the small sample size of our study, future projects should expand the study to include more participants.

Keywords: Hispanic patients; Language concordance; Medical Spanish; Patient care; Patient satisfaction.

Fig. 1

Patient perceived level of attention received

Fig. 2

Comfort speaking Spanish

Fig. 3

Patient perceptions of care as a result of speaking Spanish

Fig. 4

Comfort having sensitive conversations

Fig. 5

Spanish speaking patient perceptions of important traits of healthcare providers