title: Provider and interpreter preferences among Somali women in a primary care setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Somali people are among the largest refugee populations to resettle in North America and Europe over the past 2 decades, and health disparities are well documented, including barriers to effective navigation of primary health care systems. Patient-provider gender discordance has been described as a barrier to health-seeking behaviors and effective communication by Somali women in past qualitative work. The objective of this study was to elucidate provider and interpreter preferences during clinical encounters according to gender and race among Somali women in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty Somali women empanelled to a large primary care practice completed pictorial surveys to elucidate preferences of Somali women for providers of different genders and race for different components of the clinical examination using a Likert-type scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that Somali women generally preferred a female provider for conducting the physical examination, particularly for the pelvic, breast, and abdominal examinations. Likewise, Somali women strongly preferred female interpreters to be present during the physical examination. There was no stated preference for patient-provider racial concordance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings have implications for structural health care changes aimed at delivering culturally sensitive and effective primary care to Somali patients.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Olufunso W
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Odunukan
authors.affiliation: Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Raolat M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Abdulai
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Misbil F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Hagi Salaad
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Lahr
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Priscilla M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA wieland.mark@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wieland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012998:Somalia / Q000208:ethnology; D014177:Translations; D014481:United States; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Somali; health disparities; health literacy; limited English proficiency; women’s health