Language barriers and patient-centered breast cancer care.
Journal Article
Objective
Provision of high quality patient-centered care is fundamental to eliminating healthcare disparities in breast cancer. We investigated physicians' experiences communicating with limited English proficient (LEP) breast cancer patients.Methods
Survey of a random sample of California oncologists and surgeons.Results
Of 301 respondents who reported treating LEP patients, 46% were oncologists, 75% male, 68% in private practice, and on average 33% of their patients had breast cancer. Only 40% reported at least sometimes using professional interpretation services. Although 75% felt they were usually able to communicate effectively with LEP patients, more than half reported difficulty discussing treatment options and prognosis, and 56% acknowledged having less-patient-centered treatment discussions with LEP breast cancer patients. In multivariate analysis, use of professional interpreters was associated with 53% lower odds of reporting less-patient-centered treatment discussions (OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.26-0.85).Conclusion
California surgeons and oncologists caring for breast cancer patients report substantial communication challenges when faced with a language barrier. Although use of professional interpreters is associated with more patient-centered communication, there is a low rate of professional interpreter utilization.Practice implications
Future research and policy should focus on increasing access to and reimbursement for professional interpreter services.Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Karliner, LS; Hwang, ES; Nickleach, D; Kaplan, CP
Published Date
- August 2011
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 84 / 2
Start / End Page
- 223 - 228
PubMed ID
- 20685068
Pubmed Central ID
- 20685068
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1873-5134
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0738-3991
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/j.pec.2010.07.009
Language
- eng