When clinicians and patients experience a language barrier, errors in care and medication prescription can ensue, as demonstrated by a recent case published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The journal outlines a case in which an elderly man with a history of hypertension and diabetes was admitted to the hospital experiencing dizziness and a "slow heart beat." The man was not a native English speaker.
By the time the physicians met with him, cardiology had already decided to place a pacemaker. When discussing which medications the patient was taking, he revealed he was on two very similar medications for chest pain that had been prescribed to him at two different facilities.
The physicians spoke with the patient in his native language to check his prescription bottles and confirm the medications he was taking, at which point cardiology was informed about the mistake and the preparations for the pacemaker were stopped.
According to the study authors, physicians use information from conversations with patients and their families and combine it with evidence to come to a diagnoses and plan of care, a process that is complicated when there are miscommunications fueled by language barriers.
"Language barriers create situations with a higher risk of errors, both undertreatment and overtreatment," wrote the study authors. "Removing language barriers and speaking with patients in their own language can help patients receive the care they need and, equally important, not receive the treatments they do not need."
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