Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec;27(12):1602-8.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-012-2154-x. Epub 2012 Jul 11.

Patient-reported quality of pain treatment and use of interpreters in spanish-speaking patients hospitalized for obstetric and gynecological care

Nathalia Jimenez  1 , Gerardo Moreno, Mei Leng, Dedra Buchwald, Leo S Morales
Affiliations

Patient-reported quality of pain treatment and use of interpreters in spanish-speaking patients hospitalized for obstetric and gynecological care

Nathalia Jimenez et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Assessment and treatment of pain are based largely on patient's self reports. Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) may have difficulties communicating their pain symptoms in the presence of language barriers.

Objective: To determine whether interpreter use was associated with quality of acute pain treatment among Latina patients with limited English proficiency.

Design: Secondary analysis of two cross-sectional surveys.

Participants: One hundred and eighty-five Latino female patients hospitalized for obstetric and gynecological care who required interpreter services. Patients were classified into two groups according to interpreter availability ('Always' and 'Not Always' available).

Main measures: Quality of pain treatment was measured by patient report of 1) overall level of pain control during hospitalization; 2) timeliness of pain treatment; and 3) perceived provider helpfulness to treat pain.

Key results: Patients who always received interpreters were more likely to report higher levels of pain control (P=0.02), timely pain treatment (P=0.02), and greater perceived provider helpfulness to treat their pain (P=0.005), compared with patients who not always received interpreters.

Conclusion: Use of interpreters by LEP patients was associated with better patient reports on quality of pain treatment, and may also improve clinical interactions related to pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Apfelbaum JL, Chen C, Mehta SS, Gan TJ. Postoperative pain experience: results from a national survey suggest postoperative pain continues to be undermanaged. Anesth Analg. 2003;97:534–40. doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000068822.10113.9E. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Whelan CT, Jin L, Meltzer D. Pain and satisfaction with pain control in hospitalized medical patients: no such thing as low risk. Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:175–80. doi: 10.1001/archinte.164.2.175. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jamison RN, Taft K, O'Hara JP, Ferrante FM. Psychosocial and pharmacologic predictors of satisfaction with intravenous patient-controlled analgesia. Anesth Analg. 1993;77:121–5. - PubMed
    1. Jamison RN, Ross MJ, Hoopman P, et al. Assessment of postoperative pain management: patient satisfaction and perceived helpfulness. Clin J Pain. 1997;13:229–36. doi: 10.1097/00002508-199709000-00008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bovier PA, Charvet A, Cleopas A, Vogt N, Perneger TV. Self-reported management of pain in hospitalized patients: link between process and outcome. Am J Med. 2004;117:569–74. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2004.05.020. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms