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The impact of parental primary language on communication in the neonatal intensive care unit

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Abstract

Objective

Language barriers contribute to suboptimal healthcare delivery. We sought to explore disparities in communication between English and Spanish-speaking parents and their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) providers.

Study design

We compared English-speaking versus Spanish-speaking parents’ understanding of their infant’s diagnosis through a structured interview.

Results

Spanish-speaking parents were four times (RR 4.0, 95% CI: 1.5, 11.0; p = 0.004) more likely to incorrectly identify their child’s diagnosis than English-speaking parents. Spanish speakers also self-reported lower understanding of NICU interventions. Physicians provided updates to Spanish-speaking parents in their native language only 39% of the time.

Conclusions

Spanish-speaking NICU parents more commonly misunderstood aspects of their child’s care than did English-speaking parents. Providers’ failed to communicate with Spanish-speaking families in their native language the majority of the time. Additional research is needed to assess the barriers to effective communication between NICU providers and Spanish-speaking parents.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the NICU patients and parents that participated in this study. We also thank Drs. Megan Paulsen and Stephanie Chassen who scored parental identification of the infant’s diagnosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Mauricio A. Palau MD, Sunah S. Hwang MD MPH & Thomas A. Parker MD

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Maxene R. Meier MS & John T. Brinton PhD

  3. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, CO, 80204, USA

    Genie E. Roosevelt MD

Authors
  1. Mauricio A. Palau MD
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  2. Maxene R. Meier MS
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  3. John T. Brinton PhD
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  4. Sunah S. Hwang MD MPH
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  5. Genie E. Roosevelt MD
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  6. Thomas A. Parker MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mauricio A. Palau MD.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Palau, M.A., Meier, M.R., Brinton, J.T. et al. The impact of parental primary language on communication in the neonatal intensive care unit. J Perinatol 39, 307–313 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-018-0295-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-018-0295-4

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