SynthesisJournal of pain and symptom management2016
Interpreting at the End of Life: A Systematic Review of the Impact of Interpreters on the Delivery of Palliative Care Services to Cancer Patients With Limited English Proficiency.
Synthesis in Journal of pain and symptom management, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Strategies to promote the completion of patient-reported outcome measures by culturally and linguistically diverse and Indigenous Peoples in clinical care settings: A systematic review.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Pain Research Among Limited English Proficiency Patient Populations in Health care.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychosocial interventions for immigrant and limited English proficient cancer patients.Psycho-oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Advance Care Planning, Palliative Care, and End-of-life Care Interventions for Racial and Ethnic Underrepresented Groups: A Systematic Review.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2021Pooled it
- Care of the adult cancer patient at the end of life: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines.ESMO open · 2021Guideline
- Return to homeland: Bereaved caregiver perceptions of immigrant patient quality of death after repatriation to their country of origin, a retrospective cohort study.Palliative & supportive care · 2026Article
- What We Must Seek Now: Palliative Care without Borders, Race, and Ethnicity while Preserving Patient Autonomy.International journal of community based nursing and midwifery · 2026Article
- Language Preference Is Associated with Goals-of-Care Communication and End-of-Life Care in Dementia.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- When language becomes a safety risk in supportive and palliative care.Palliative & supportive care · 2026Article
- "Language barriers and patient safety in supportive care: Two case reports bridging system-level gaps".Palliative & supportive care · 2026Article
- Cancer care barriers and interventions among immigrant workers: an evidence map and practice-oriented review.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Interpreting in healthcare: a systematic search and mapping of ethical issues in health literature.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Testing a novel theoretical framework to study language services implementation in health care.PEC innovation · 2025Article
- Codesigning the iCanPlan Program to promote advance care planning among consumers from ethnic minority backgrounds in cancer care.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Cancer care disparities among patients with limited English proficiency: challenges and strategies for equity.BJC reports · 2025Review
- Patient-Physician Messaging by Race, Ethnicity, Insurance Type, and Preferred Language.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Telehealth Care for People With Serious Illnesses and Preferred Languages Other Than English.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Medical Interpreters' Experiences With Patients Who Are Near End-of-Life and Their Family Members.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2025Article
- Between host country and homeland: a grounded theory study on place of dying and death in migrant cancer patients.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- "Interpreters don't tell you everything": experiences with medical interpretation among Latino cancer patients and caregivers with limited English proficiency.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
contextLanguage barriers can influence the health quality and outcomes of limited English proficiency (LEP) patients at end of life, including symptom assessment and utilization of hospice services.
objectivesTo determine how professional medical interpreters influence the delivery of palliative care services to LEP patients.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of the literature in all available languages of six databases from 1960 to 2014. Studies evaluated use of language services for LEP patients who received palliative care services. Data were abstracted from 10 articles and collected on study design, size, comparison groups, outcomes, and interpreter characteristics.
resultsSix qualitative and four quantitative studies assessed the use of interpreters in palliative care. All studies found that the quality of care provided to LEP patients receiving palliative services is influenced by the type of interpreter used. When professional interpreters were not used, LEP patients and families had inadequate understanding about diagnosis and prognosis during goals of care conversations, and patients had worse symptom management at the end of life, including pain and anxiety. Half of the studies concluded that professional interpreters were not used adequately, and several studies suggested that premeetings between clinicians and interpreters were important to discuss topics and terminology to be used during goals of care discussions.
conclusionLEP patients had worse quality of end-of-life care and goals of care discussions when professional interpreters were not used. More intervention studies are needed to improve the quality of care provided to LEP patients and families receiving palliative services.
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Registered trials
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.