The DOI matches its Crossref record; 28 of the 28 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Patterns of communication through interpreters: A detailed sociolinguistic analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background Numerous articles have detailed how the presence of an interpreter leads to less satisfactory communication with physicians; few have studied how actual communication takes place through an interpreter in a clinical setting.Objective Record and analyze physician-interpreter-patient interactions.Design Primary care physicians with high-volume Hispanic practices were recruited for a communication study. Dyslipidemic Hispanic patients, either monolingual Spanish or bilingual Spanish-English, were recruited on the day of a normally scheduled appointment and, once consented, recorded without a researcher present in the room. Separate postvisit interviews were conducted with the patient and the physician. All interactions were fully transcribed and analyzed.Participants Sixteen patients were recorded interacting with 9 physicians. Thirteen patients used an interpreter with 8 physicians, and 3 patients spoke Spanish with the 1 bilingual physician.Approach Transcript analysis based on sociolinguistic and discourse analytic techniques, including but not limited to time speaking, analysis of questions asked and answered, and the loss of semantic information.Results Speech was significantly reduced and revised by the interpreter, resulting in an alteration of linguistic features such as content, meaning, reinforcement/validation, repetition, and affect. In addition, visits that included an interpreter had virtually no rapport-building "small talk," which typically enables the physician to gain comprehensive patient history, learn clinically relevant information, and increase emotional engagement in treatment.Conclusions The presence of an interpreter increases the difficulty of achieving good physician-patient communication. Physicians and interpreters should be trained in the process of communication and interpretation, to minimize conversational loss and maximize the information and relational exchange with interpreted patients.
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“Language barriers are not the only issue that contributes to health inequities, and much has been written about these factors that are collectively known as social determinants of health [59-62]”
From Technology enabled clinical care (TECC): Protocol for a prospective longitudinal cohort study of smartphone-augmented mental health treatment (2021) · cites this paper as [62]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Aranguri, C., Davidson, B., & Ramirez, R.
- Affiliations
- Pfizer (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Aranguri, Cesar
- Venue
- Journal of General Internal Medicine
- Published
- 2006-06
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 623-629
- ISSN
- 0884-8734 (ISSN-L)
- 1525-1497
- PMC
- PMC1924629
- OpenAlex
- W2041627242
- Cited by
- 114
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 12.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of General Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Pfizer
- Georgetown University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Translation Studies and Practices
- Keywords
- medical interpreters, physician-patient communication, Spanish-speaking patients, Hispanic patients, interpreter-mediated communication, rapport building, primary care, dyslipidemia, interpreter training
- MeSH terms
- Communication, Humans, Language, Nonverbal Communication, Physician-Patient Relations, Speech
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