Abstract
Background: Among patients with limited English-language proficiency (LEP), provider-patient language discordance is related to lower patient satisfaction. However, little is known about how language barriers are associated with specific patient experiences, and how these experiences in turn may influence patient satisfaction.
Objective: To evaluate the degree of health education and the quality of interpersonal care that occurs during patient visits, and their associations with patient satisfaction, in LEP Asian American patients.
Methods: A cross-sectional mail survey was conducted in 2746 LEP Chinese and Vietnamese patients aged ≥18 years from 11 community health centers in eight US cities. We examined self-reported healthcare experiences of LEP patients who had visits to a language concordant (speaks the patient’s language) or discordant (does not speak the patient’s language) provider over the previous month. Multivariable logistic regressions were conducted to examine the associations between interpersonal care, discussions of health-related behaviors, and patient satisfaction.
Results: Discussions of health-related behaviors and the quality of interpersonal care received were independent predictors of patient satisfaction (p<0.001). For language-discordant visits without access to an interpreter, patients who received poor-quality interpersonal care were more likely to be dissatisfied with the visit (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.44; 95% CI 1.67, 3.57) and with the provider (AOR 4.43; 95% CI 1.71, 11.48) [both p<0.01].
Conclusions: Improving the quality of interpersonal care and the degree of health-related discussions may result in greater satisfaction among LEP patients. The quality of the provider’s interpersonal care is especially important to patient satisfaction. Interpreter services may alleviate some disparities in care.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
US Census Bureau. Language use and English-speaking ability: 2000. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, 2000
Weech-Maldonado R, Morales LS, Elliott M, et al. Race/ethnicity, language, and patients’ assessments of care in Medicaid managed care. Health Serv Res 2003 Jun; 38(3): 789–808
Morales LS, Cunningham WE, Brown JA, et al. Are Latinos less satisfied with communication by health care providers? J Gen Intern Med 1999 Jul; 14(7): 409–17
Carrasquillo O, Orav EJ, Brennan TA, et al. Impact of language barriers on patient satisfaction in an emergency department. J Gen Intern Med 1999 Feb; 14(2): 82–7
Woloshin S, Bickell NA, Schwartz LM, et al. Language barriers in medicine in the United States. JAMA 1995 Mar 1; 273(9): 724–8
Divi C, Koss R, Schmaltz S, et al. Language proficiency and adverse events in US hospitals: a pilot study. Int J Qual Health Care 2007; 19(2): 60–7
Jacobs EA, Lauderdale DS, Meltzer D, et al. Impact of interpreter services on delivery of health care to limited-English-proficient patients. J Gen Intern Med 2001 Jul; 16(7): 468–74
Lee LJ, Batal HA, Maselli JH, et al. Effect of Spanish interpretation method on patient satisfaction in an urban walk-in clinic. J Gen Intern Med 2002 Aug; 17(8): 641–5
New California Media (NCM). Bridging language barriers in health care: public opinion survey of California immigrants from Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. San Francisco (CA): The California Endowment, 2003
Keating NL, Green DC, Kao AC, et al. How are patients’ specific ambulatory care experiences related to trust, satisfaction, and considering changing physicians? J Gen Intern Med 2002 Jan; 17(1): 29–39
Schauffler HH, Rodriguez T, Milstein A. Health education and patient satisfaction. J Fam Pract 1996 Jan; 42(1): 62–8
Baker DW, Hayes R, Fortier JP. Interpreter use and satisfaction with interpersonal aspects of care for Spanish-speaking patients. Med Care 1998 Oct; 36(10): 1461–70
Seijo R, Gomez H, Freidenberg J. Language as a communication barrier in medical care for Hispanic patients. Hisp J Behav Sci 1991; 13(4): 363–76
Baker DW, Parker RM, Williams MV, et al. Use and effectiveness of interpreters in an emergency department. JAMA 1996 Mar 13; 275(10): 783–8
Barnes JS, Bennett CE. The Asian population: 2000. Washington, DC: US Census Bureau, 2002
Asian American Populations [online]. Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/Populations/AsianAm/AsianAm.htm [Accessed 2007 Jul 18]
Ngo-Metzger Q, Massagli MP, Clarridge BR, et al. Linguistic and cultural barriers to care: perspectives of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants. J Gen Intern Med 2003; 18: 44–52
US Census Bureau. General demographic characteristics by race for the United States: 2000. Table 4: general demographic characteristics for the Asian population [online]. Available from URL: http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t15/tab04.pdf [Accessed 2007 Jun 2]
Taira DA, Safran DG, Seto TB, et al. Asian-American patient ratings of physician primary care performance. J Gen Intern Med 1997 Apr; 12(4): 237–42
Meredith LS, Siu AL. Variation and quality of self-report health data: Asians and Pacific Islanders compared with other ethnic groups. Med Care 1995 Nov; 33(11): 1120–31
Wilson E, Chen AH, Grumbach K, et al. Effects of limited English proficiency and physician language on health care comprehension. J Gen Intern Med 2005 Sep; 20(9): 800–6
Ngo-Metzger Q, Sorkin DH, Phillips RS, et al. Providing high-quality care for limited English proficient patients: the importance of language concordance and interpreter use. J Gen Int Med 2007; 22: 324–30
Ngo-Metzger Q, Kaplan S, Sorkin DH, et al. Surveying minorities with limited-English proficiency: does data collection method affect data quality among Asian Americans? Med Care 2004; 42(9): 893–900
Ngo-Metzger Q, Massagli MP, Clarridge B, et al. Patient-centered quality measures for Asian Americans: research in progress. Am J Med Qual 2000 Jul–Aug; 15(4): 167–73
Cleary PD, Edgman-Levitan S, Roberts M, et al. Patients evaluate their hospital care: a national survey. Health Aff (Millwood) 1991 Winter; 10(4): 254–67
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS). Surveys and tools to advance patient-centered care [online]. Available from URL: https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp [Accessed 2007 Apr 6]
SAS Statistical Software [software]. Version 8.1 for Windows. SAS Institute, Cary (NC): 1999
Software for the Statistical Analysis of Correlated Data. Version 9 for Windows [computer program]. Research Triangle Park (NC): SUDAAN, 2005
Beck R, Daughtridge R, Sloan P. Physician-patient communication in the primary care office: a systematic review. J Am Board Fam Pract 2002; 15: 25–38
Roter DL, Frankel RM, Hall JA, et al. The expression of emotion through nonverbal behavior in medical visits: mechanisms and outcomes. J Gen Intern Med 2006 Jan; 21Suppl. 1: S28–34
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 2006 National healthcare disparities report [AHRQ Publication No. 07-0012]. Rockville (MD): AHRQ, US Department of Health and Human Services, 2006 Dec [online]. Available from URL: http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr06/nhdr06.htm [Accessed 2009 Apr 6]
Hasnain-Wynia R, Baker DW, Nerenz D, et al. Disparities in health care are driven by where minority patients seek care: examination of the hospital quality alliance measures. Arch Intern Med 2007; 167: 1233–9
Grantmakers in Health (GIH). In the right words: addressing language and culture in providing health care. 2003 (Issue Brief #18). San Francisco (CA): Grantmakers in Health [online]. Available from URL: http://www.gih.org/info-url2678/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=191266 [Accessed 2009 Apr 6]
Elderkin-Thompson V, Silver RC, Waitzkin H. When nurses double as interpreters: a study of Spanish-speaking patients in a US primary care setting. Soc Sci Med 2001 May; 52(9): 1343–58
Laws MB, Heckscher R, Mayo SJ, et al. A new method for evaluating the quality of medical interpretation. Med Care 2004 Jan; 42(1): 71–80
Weissman JS, Betancourt J, Campbell EG, et al. Resident physicians’ preparedness to provide cross-cultural care. JAMA 2005 Sep 7; 294(9): 1058–67
US Department of Health and Human Services. Assuring cultural competence in health care: recommendations for national standards and an outcomes-focused research agenda (CLAS). Rockville (MD): DHHS, Agency for Health care Research and Quality, 2001
Youdelman M, Perkins J. Providing language interpretation services in health care setting: examples from the field. New York: The Commonwealth Fund, 2002
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (grant no. R01-HS10 316) and the Commonwealth Fund (grant no. 20020110). The authors would like to thank Michael Massagli, PhD, and Brian Clarridge, PhD, for their extensive contributions to questionnaire development and data collection. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ngo-Metzger, Q., Sorkin, D.H. & Phillips, R.S. Healthcare Experiences of Limited English-Proficient Asian American Patients. Patient-Patient-Centered-Outcome-Res 2, 113–120 (2009). https://doi.org/10.2165/01312067-200902020-00007
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/01312067-200902020-00007