Mutual (mis)understanding in interpreting in consultations between Turkish immigrant patients and Dutch general...

Area of Science:

• Medical Communication
• Sociolinguistics
• Interpreter Studies

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial in healthcare, especially for immigrant populations.
• Informal interpreters, often family or friends, are frequently used but their impact on medical dialogue quality is under-researched.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role and impact of informal interpreters in medical consultations.
• To identify factors contributing to miscommunication between Turkish immigrant patients and Dutch general practitioners.
• To analyze how interpreter behavior influences the quality of medical trialogues.

Main Methods:

• Discourse analysis of 16 video-recorded medical interviews.
• Comparison of interviews with good versus poor mutual understanding (externally assessed).
• Focus on interpreter role-taking, miscommunication, translation changes, additional information, and side-talk.

Main Results:

• Significant differences observed between consultations with good and poor mutual understanding.
• Higher instances of miscommunication were found in consultations with poor mutual understanding.
• Content omissions and side-talk activities by interpreters were associated with hindered communication.

Conclusions:

• Informal interpreter actions, such as omissions and side-talk, can negatively affect the quality of medical consultations.
• Understanding interpreter dynamics is key to improving healthcare access and outcomes for immigrant patients.
• This study highlights the need for training and support for informal medical interpreters.