Changes in meaning often occur during conferences between clinicians and families
WEDNESDAY, July 16 (HealthDay News) -- Interpreters who translate medical information between clinicians and the families of patients with limited English proficiency have about a 50 percent chance of altering the meaning, with potentially negative consequences, according to a report in the July issue of Chest.
Kiemanh Pham, M.D., from Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Calif., and colleagues investigated the effect of alterations in medical interpretation on communication during conferences with families of patients in the intensive care unit with limited English proficiency using data from 10 audiotaped conferences involving nine physicians and 70 family members.
The researchers found that there was a 55 percent chance per conference that an alteration such as additions, omissions, substitutions and editorializations would occur. More than 75 percent were considered potentially clinically significant, they note. Nearly all (93 percent) were likely to impact communication negatively by interfering with the transfer of information, reducing emotional support and reducing rapport. Alterations were likely to have a potentially positive impact on communication by improving the conveyance of information and emotional support.
"Alterations in medical interpretation seem to occur frequently and often have the potential for negative consequences on the common goals of the family conference," Pham and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
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