Hablamos juntos (together we speak): a brief patient-reported measure of the quality of interpretation

PURPOSE: This study evaluates the psychometric properties of three newly developed items assessing the quality of interpretation from the patient’s perspective among Spanish-speaking limited English proficient Latino patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The authors examined the psychometric properties of a patient-reported measure of quality of interpretation using a cross-sectional survey study of 1,590 adult Spanish-speaking limited English proficient Latinos in the United States. Quality of interpretation, doctor communication, and satisfaction with care were assessed using a three survey-item, an independent multiple-item measure, and a single-item measure, respectively. RESULTS: Sixty-nine percent (1,104) of patients surveyed used interpreters. Cronbach’s alpha for the three items assessing interpreter quality was 0.31, while dropping item three resulted in an alpha of 0.56. Items one and two were moderately correlated with doctor communication (r=0.39) and satisfaction with care scores (r=0.21) supporting construct validity. CONCLUSION: Two out of three survey items can be scaled to measure quality of interpretation from the patient’s perspective. Quality of interpretation reported by patients is moderately associated with doctor communication and satisfaction with care.