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Pediatricians rarely provide translation services for patients with little English proficiency

04-02-2007 · EurekAlert!

A nationwide survey of pediatricians found that most use untrained interpreters to communicate with families who are not proficient in English. Nearly two-thirds of the pediatricians surveyed said they relied on the patient’s bilingual family member to relay health information. Pediatricians in rural areas or in states with higher proportions of non-English proficient populations were the least likely to use professional translation services.

Keywords: pediatricians, rarely, provide, translation, services, patients, little, english, proficiency, pediatrician, service, patient

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For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. 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