Satisfaction With Communication in Primary Care for Spanish-Speaking and English-Speaking Parents

Abstract

Background and Objective Effective communication with primary care physicians is important yet incompletely understood for Spanish-speaking parents. We predicted lower satisfaction among Spanish-speaking compared with English-speaking Latino and non-Latino parents. Methods Cross-sectional analysis at 2-month well visits within the Greenlight study at 4 pediatric resident clinics. Parents reported satisfaction with 14 physician communication items using the validated Communication Assessment Tool (CAT). High satisfaction was defined as “excellent” on each CAT item. Mean estimations compared satisfaction for communication items among Spanish and English-speaking Latinos and non-Latinos. We used generalized linear regression modeling, adjusted for parent age, education, income, and clinic site. Among Spanish-speaking parents, we compared visits conducted in Spanish with and without an interpreter, and in English. Results Compared with English-speaking Latino (N=127) and non-Latino parents (N=432), fewer Spanish-speaking parents (N=303) reported satisfaction with 14 communication items. No significant differences were found between English-speaking Latinos and non-Latinos. Greatest differences were found in: greeting that made the parent comfortable (59.4% of Spanish-speaking Latinos endorsing “Excellent” vs. 77.5% English-speaking Latinos, p<0.01) and discussing follow-up (62.5% of Spanish-speaking Latinos vs. 79.8% English-speaking Latinos, p<0.01). After adjusting for parent age, education, income, and study site, Spanish-speaking Latinos were still less likely to report high satisfaction with these communication items. Satisfaction was not different among Spanish-speaking parents when the physician spoke Spanish versus used an interpreter. Conclusions Satisfaction with physician communication was associated with language, but not ethnicity. Spanish-speaking parents less frequently report satisfaction with communication, and innovative solutions to enhance communication quality are needed.

Increased Risk of Severe Sepsis in Hispanic Children Hospitalized With Acute Myeloid Leukemia

“…In the acute care setting, limited English language proficient families have been found to perceive differences in nurse responsiveness that, in turn, affected their trust in nursing care (Radwin et al, 2013). Hispanic families and members of the health care team have both reported similar concerns about trust and the limited understanding, on the part of the families, of the complexities of health care situations when language barriers exist (Abbe et al, 2006;Fields et al, 2016;Flower et al, 2017). There is also evidence that cultural differences exist between Hispanic families and members of the health care team regarding the perception of urgency when clinical symptoms arise.…”

Spanish-Speaking Parents’ Experiences Accessing Academic Medical Center Care: Barriers, Facilitators and Technology Use

“…1 Latino children, including those in Spanish-speaking families, experience more delays in care, 2 are less likely to have a usual source of health care compared with other groups, 3 and receive fewer specialty referrals and testing. 4 Once children in Spanish-speaking families obtain care, satisfaction with communication is lower than for English-speaking groups, 5 and is reported to be less family-centered, as defined by principles that include respect and collaboration. 6 Health care access barriers and communication experiences may contribute to disparities, 7 and are therefore essential to understand.…”

Communication Challenges Faced by Spanish-Speaking Caregivers of Children with Medical Complexity

“…26 Interpreters are more likely to be available in hospitals or hospital-based clinics; even in these settings, visits for Spanish-speaking families were frequently conducted in English. 11,24 Machine translation is increasingly available and has the potential to address the challenges of language barrier in healthcare communications. 26 In addition to language barrier, our study showed that other factors at the caregiver-, provider-and system-level, contributed to the communication challenges experienced by SSP of CMC.…”

“…9,10 Spanish-speaking parents/caregivers (SSP) are less satis ed than English-speaking parents with healthcare provider communication about their children. 11,12 Children whose parents have LEP are more likely to experience delays in diagnosis, serious adverse events and longer hospitalizations, and are less likely to be assessed for pain or receive pain medication. [13][14][15][16] Because CMC have high healthcare utilization, the consequences of parental LEP are likely to be greater for these children compared to other children.…”