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Teaching Spanish to Pediatric Emergency Physicians
Effects on Patient Satisfaction
Suzan S. Mazor, MD;
Louis C. Hampers, MD, MBA;
Vidya T. Chande, MD;
Steven E. Krug, MD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:693-695.
Background Language barriers are known to negatively affect patient satisfaction.
Objective To determine whether a course of instruction in medical Spanish for
pediatric emergency department (ED) physicians is associated with an increase
in satisfaction for Spanish-speaking-only families.
Design, Setting, Participants, and Intervention Nine pediatric ED physicians completed a 10-week medical Spanish course.
Mock clinical scenarios and testing were used to establish an improvement
in each physician's ability to communicate with Spanish-speaking-only families.
Before (preintervention period) and after (postintervention period) the course,
Spanish-speaking-only families cared for by these physicians completed satisfaction
questionnaires. Professional interpreters were equally available during both
the preintervention and postintervention periods.
Main Outcome Measures Responses to patient family satisfaction questionnaires.
Results A total of 143 Spanish-speaking-only families completed satisfaction
questionnaires. Preintervention (n = 85) and postintervention (n = 58) cohorts
did not differ significantly in age, vital signs, length of ED visit, discharge
diagnosis, or self-reported English proficiency. Physicians used a professional
interpreter less often in the postintervention period (odds ratio [OR], 0.34;
95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16-0.71). Postintervention families were significantly
more likely to strongly agree that "the physician was concerned about my child"
(OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.0-4.2), "made me feel comfortable" (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.1-4.4),
"was respectful" (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.4-6.5), and "listened to what I said"
(OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.4-5.9).
Conclusions A 10-week medical Spanish course for pediatric ED physicians was associated
with decreased interpreter use and increased family satisfaction.
From the Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics,
Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Ill (Drs Mazor, Chande, and Krug),
and the Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, The Children's
Hospital, Denver, Colo (Dr Hampers).
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