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Cited by 18Telemedicine and Telehealth ImplementationEthics and bioethics in healthcareHealth Literacy and Information Accessibility

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 15 of the 17 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Patients’ understanding of telemedicine terms required for informed consent when translated into Kiswahili

Open access
Odhiambo, Rachael, Mars, Maurice·2018·BMC Public Health
DOI 10.1186/s12889-018-5499-1PMC PMC5932756
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: In Africa, where access to specialist medical services is often limited, telemedicine, the use of information and communication technologies for the provision of healthcare at a distance, can contribute towards enhancing access to healthcare. Informed consent is considered the cornerstone of ethical practice, especially when technology and techniques are considered new and or unproven. It is advised that informed consent should be gained in the patient's mother tongue. However, many African languages have not kept pace with technology and lack the words and terms needed to describe computing and technical terms. Additionally, even when present, patients may not understand these words and terms. This affects the validity of informed consent given. METHODS: Forty relevant computer terms and words used when explaining telemedicine during the consent process were selected and translated into Kiswahili. Patients at the outpatient department of the Kilifi County Hospital in Kenya participated. The study consisted of two phases. In the first, 50 people were asked whether they understood the translated words and terms and were able to explain their meaning. In the second (n = 42) they were asked to explain the meaning of the translated word, the original English word, and those words that could not be translated. RESULTS: Of the 40 terms, 14 could not be translated (35%). A total of 92 people attending the Kilifi County Hospital participated. Their average age was 31.2 ± 10.6 y, 70.7% were female and 55.4% were from rural areas. More than half of the respondents did not understand videoconference, store and forward, digital photograph, wireless, World Wide Web, antivirus or email in either language. No-one understood the words telemedicine, firewall, encryption, decryption and tele-diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Currently it is unlikely that valid informed consent can be obtained for a telemedicine encounter in Kiswahili. Innovative solutions are required to overcome the barrier of languages failing to keep pace with technology and their effect on consent.

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  • Where the vernacular language lacks direct translations for modern words, the validity of informed consent could be affected unless an interpreter is available to explain and clarify unknown terms.

    “In this situation, and or where the participant does not understand the definition of the terminology, the validity of the informed consent could be affected, unless there is an interpreter available to assist with explaining and clarifying any unknown terms (Odhiambo and Mars, 2018).”

    From A GROUNDED THEORY EXPLORATION OF WELLBEING FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN FORCIBLY DISPLACED AS A RESULT OF TRAUMA CAUSED BY CONFLICT, BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPANTS LIVING IN UGANDA (2025) · cites this paper as Odhiambo and Mars, 2018

    The Abstract’s Background and the Discussion say that unfamiliar or untranslatable technical terms can undermine valid informed consent. The Background discusses interpreters explaining such terms, but cautions that an interpreter may not understand them either; it does not establish that having an interpreter available resolves the problem. Page numbers are not provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Metadata

Authors
Odhiambo, R., & Mars, M.
Affiliations
University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
Corresponding author
Mars, Maurice
ORCID
Venue
BMC Public Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-05-03
Volume
18
Issue
1
Pages
588-588
ISSN
1471-2458 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12889-018-5499-1
PMC
PMC5932756
OpenAlex
W2800141389
Cited by
17
References
17
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1
FWCI
2.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Fogarty International Center (D43TW007004)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
Keywords
telemedicine, informed consent, Swahili language, medical terminology translation, patient understanding, language barriers, telediagnosis
MeSH terms
Adult, Female, Humans, Informed Consent, Kenya, Male, Terminology as Topic, Patients, Translating, Telemedicine, Comprehension, Young Adult

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