title: Consultations conducted in languages other than English in Australian general practice.
abstract: This study sought to determine the need for, and use of, professional interpreters in general practice. This is a sub-study of the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) program - a continuous, national, cross-sectional survey of Australian general practitioner (GP) activity. Data were provided by 206 randomly sampled GPs between December 2013 and March 2014. Of 6074 patients sampled, there were 986 (16.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 13.2-19.3) who reported speaking a language other than English (LOTE) at home. Five per cent of all GP consultations involved communicating in a LOTE. Of these, 1% involved professional interpreters, 82.3% were conducted by multilingual GPs who spoke the patient's language, and 17.7% involved a family member or friend. GPs thought a professional interpreter would/may have improved the quality of 27.8% of these consultations. Our study suggests that GPs see the opportunity to improve the quality of LOTE consultations by using professional interpreters to replace family member/friend interpreters.
authors.affiliation: BAppSc (HIM) (Hons), PhD, Research Fellow and Project Manager, BEACH Program, Family Medicine Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bayram
authors.forename: Rowena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gardiner
authors.forename: Marion Jean
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bailes
authors.forename: Nayantara
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Obeyesekere
authors.forename: Graeme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Britt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D065246:Culturally Competent Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating