Lost in translation? Comprehension of care for English-speaking vs. Spanish-speaking trauma patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Culturally responsive care is a core recommendation to reduce health disparities. Language barriers contribute to misunderstandings, dissatisfaction, and worse outcomes. This is exacerbated in trauma when communication is constrained by time, complexity, and competing priorities. We hypothesized that Spanish-speaking trauma patients (SSP) would have less accurate comprehension of care (CC) and discharge instructions compared with English-speaking patients (ENG).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed discharges from a level 1 trauma center (October 2021 to March 2022) who were aged ≥18, primarily ENG or SSP, discharge Glasgow Coma Scale score ≥14, and without memory loss. Patients were surveyed <48 hours from discharge to assess CC. Patients self-rated CC on a Likert

SUBMITTER: Kundu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12557729 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature