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Medical interpreter knowledge of cancer and cancer clinical trials
Author(s) -
Donelan Karen,
Hobrecker Karin,
Schapira Lidia,
Mailhot Johanna R.,
Goulart Bernardo H.,
Chabner Bruce A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.24377
Subject(s) - medicine , clinical trial , interpreter , context (archaeology) , cancer , curriculum , family medicine , test (biology) , medline , medical education , medical physics , pathology , psychology , paleontology , political science , law , biology , programming language , pedagogy , computer science
BACKGROUND: Cancer patients with limited English proficiency may need specialized assistance to communicate with health professionals about cancer and clinical trials. METHODS: Medical interpreters working in several Boston‐area hospitals were invited to participate in training sessions about cancer and cancer clinical trials. We did a pre and post survey‐based assessment of knowledge of basic concepts in cancer and clinical trials, and post assessment of satisfaction, among 97 interpreters in cancer training and education sessions and 79 participants in clinical trial training and education sessions. RESULTS: Participants had a range of prior experience with interpretation in the context of cancer and clinical trials. Training increased mean accuracy from 49% to 72% in knowledge items about cancer, and from 72% to 78% in knowledge about clinical trials. Interpreters reported several areas of concern with respect to standards of practice. CONCLUSIONS: Pretest surveys of medical interpreters revealed several areas of important knowledge gaps about cancer and clinical trials. Posttest assessment showed that training can be useful to improving short‐term accuracy, but that more work is needed to develop curricula and testing measures to address these knowledge gaps. Cancer 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.