Language Barrier Often Spells Trouble For Those Taking Rx Medications
Drug Store News - April 4, 2003
According to a recent survey, nearly 10 percent of the pharmacy patients who speak English as a second language incorrectly dispense prescription medications to their children.
One-third of all ESL speakers themselves admitted to not being clear on their pharmaceutical regimen because of the language barrier between them and their doctor.
Russian-speaking and Spanish-speaking respondents had the most trouble with understanding their prescriptions, with 52 percent and 57 percent, respectively, reporting difficulties. Comparatively, 19 percent of participants of Indian descent and 8 percent of Chinese speaking participants had difficulty understanding their prescriptions.
The survey of 592 ESL speakers was commissioned by translation company TransPerfect Translations for the week of March 10 to 14 in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. All interviews were done in person in the participant’s native language. Of the participants, some 20 percent were Chinese, approximately 17 percent were Indian, 33 percent were Russian and 31 percent were Spanish.
About TransPerfect
TransPerfect is a diversified family of companies providing a full array of international communication services in 22 offices worldwide, including document management, translation, and staffing solutions. TransPerfect is ISO 9001:2000 certified which means it has implemented the most rigorous quality assurance process, according to criteria set forth by the International Organization for Standardization. The wide range of services it provides includes imaging, reprographic services, electronic data discovery, multilingual OCR, electronic labeling, coding, on-site imaging and copying, as well as staffing, and a full suite of translation and interpretation solutions. Headquarters are in New York City. |
