Factors Associated With the Perceived Need for Medical Interpreters Among Health Care Professionals

In recent years, with an increased number of foreign residents in Japan, medical institutions are increasingly required to develop robust systems for accepting and treating foreign patients. However, previous research has not sufficiently investigated factors related to the perceived need for medical interpreters among health care professionals, particularly the relationship between this need and medical professionals' experience in treating foreign patients.

The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with the perceived need for medical interpreters among health care professionals with experience in treating foreign patients, including their willingness to utilize such services and their specific professional roles.

We conducted an online survey between January and February 2024, targeting health care professionals who provided informed consent to participate in the study. A total of 88 individuals with established experience in handling foreign patients were included in the final analysis. To examine these associations, appropriate statistical analyses were conducted. First, the relationships between the perceived need for medical interpreters (categorized as present or absent) and several variables, including basic demographic attributes, awareness of medical interpreting as a profession, prior use of medical interpreter services, and willingness to use medical interpreter services, were examined. Subsequently, willingness to use medical interpreter services (categorized as present or absent) was treated as the dependent variable, and its associations with professionals' basic attributes, awareness of medical interpreting as a profession, and prior use of medical interpreter services were analyzed. The χ² test or Fisher's exact tests were used for categorical variables, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare age and years of professional experience between groups.

For the perceived need for medical interpreters, a statistically significant difference was identified in relation to two factors: age of the health care professional and willingness to use medical interpreter services (p < 0.05). Regarding the willingness to use medical interpreter services, significant differences were observed across a broad range of factors, including the professional's age, length of professional experience (work history), specific medical occupation (profession type), and prior use of medical interpreter services (p < 0.05).

The findings of this study suggest that the perceived need to use medical interpreters is significantly associated with the health professional's age and willingness to use medical interpreter services. Furthermore, the willingness to use these services was found to be influenced by age, professional experience, specific profession type, and prior use of medical interpreter services. Importantly, our data indicated that prior experience using a medical interpreter did not directly affect the perceived need for medical interpreters but rather contributed to the intention to use an interpreter in future clinical encounters.