Objective: Communication skills are the most important determinant of patients' satisfaction with care. Data about the adverse effects of cross-language encounters are scarce. This prospective study was designed to examine the association between the communication language and patients' satisfaction in oncology practice.
Patients and methods: The Art of Medicine questionnaire was used to assess patients' perceptions of clinicians' communication behaviors and patients' global satisfaction. Mean scores of patients cared for by Arabic-speaking oncologists were compared with those of patients who had communications translated from English by interpreters.
Results: 255 patients were eligible. Patients' median age was 44 years (95% CI, 42.8-46.2). Communication was in Arabic and interpreted English for 136 (53%) and 119 (47%) patients, respectively. The two groups were comparable for various demographic and clinical variables. On a nine-point scale, mean scores for the eight questionnaire items ranged from 6.24 (95% CI, 5.91-6.56) to 8.24 (95% CI, 8.03-8.45). There was no significant difference in communication skills between Arabic- and English-speaking clinicians for any questionnaire item. Moreover, a multiple regression analysis failed to identify any variable that independently influenced overall patients' satisfaction with the delivered care.
Conclusions: The findings do not support a disadvantageous effect on interpersonal skills and patients' satisfaction as a result of cross-language communication.