ArticleBMC health services research2010
What do language barriers cost? An exploratory study among asylum seekers in Switzerland.
Article in BMC health services research, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05871268 (Bridging the Health Disparities Gap in Decision-Making Among Limited English Proficient), which is not on this map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Bridging the Health Disparities Gap in Decision-Making Among Limited English Proficient (LEP) Patients With Pelvic Floor Disorders
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Professional Interpreter Services and the Impact on Hospital Care Outcomes: An Integrative Review of Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Associations between interpreter dependency and rehabilitation outcomes and care processes following acquired brain injury: a Swedish registry-based cohort study.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2026Article
- Caught between worlds: West African immigrant mothers` experiences with the Finnish healthcare system: a qualitative study using the socioecological model.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Difficulties in Accessing Mental Health Services: The Perspective of Users from Cultural Minorities.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Comparative Evaluation of ChatGPT, Google Translate, and UD Talk for Chinese-to-Japanese Translation in Cardiology and Pulmonology Outpatient Consultations: Prospective Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Observational
- Diabetes and Foot Health Among South Asian People Seeking Asylum in the United Kingdom: A Theory-Informed Scoping Review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Language barriers, mobility, and health equity: clinical risks, economic burden, and policy options for universal language access.International journal for equity in health · 2026Review
- Influence of Language Barriers on Postoperative Recovery After Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery: A Retrospective Analysis.World journal of surgery · 2026Article
- Bridging the language gap in healthcare: assessing physicians' knowledge of simplified medical jargon in Arabic and their attitudes toward patient-physician communication training in Lebanese medical education.BMC medical education · 2026Observational
- Pre-Transplant Diagnosis Asserts Significant Post-Transplant Burden on Readmissions and Reinterventions: A Multicenter Study.Pediatric transplantation · 2025Article
- Health is wealth and documents are the currency: exploring the role of NGOs in facilitating healthcare access for undocumented migrants in the Netherlands - a qualitative study.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- The vicious circle: how systemic barriers perpetuate maternity interpreting service inadequacies for migrant women in the UK.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Prohibiting Babel-A call for professional remote interpreting services in pre-operation anaesthesia information.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Artificial intelligence in clinical settings: a systematic review of its role in language translation and interpretation.Annals of translational medicine · 2024Review
- The utility of ChatGPT as a generative medical translator.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2024Article
- 'The doctor doesn't understand Xhosa and the service user doesn't understand English' - exploring the role of security guards acting as informal interpreters in psychiatric care in South Africa.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Recognition of language barriers in comprehending non-communicable disease management among rural elderly people in the DIMAMO surveillance area: a case of AWI-Gen participants.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Perspectives of family caregivers and nurses on hospital discharge transitional care for Muslim older adults living with COPD: a qualitative study.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Uncovering communication strategies used in language-discordant consultations with people who are migrants: Qualitative interviews with healthcare providers.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLanguage barriers have a major impact on both the quality and the costs of health care. While there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the detrimental effects of language barriers on the quality of health care provision, less is known about their impact on costs. This purpose of this study was to investigate the association between language barriers and the costs of health care.
methodsThe data source was a representative set of asylum seekers whose health care was provided by a Swiss Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO). A cross-sectional survey was conducted: data was collected on all the asylum seekers' health care costs including consultations, diagnostic examinations, medical interventions, stays in the clinic, medication, and interpreter services. The data were analysed using path analysis.
resultsAsylum seekers showed higher health care costs if there were language barriers between them and the health professionals. Most of these increased costs were attributable to those patients who received interpreter services: they used more health care services and more material. However, these patients also had a lower number of visits to the HMO than patients who faced language barriers but did not receive interpreter services.
conclusionLanguage barriers impact health care costs. In line with the limited literature, the results of this study seem to show that interpreter services lead to more targeted health care, concentrating higher health care utilisation into a smaller number of visits. Although the initial costs are higher, it can be posited that the use of interpreter services prevents the escalation of long-term costs. A future study specially designed to examine this presumption is needed.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.