ArticlePloS one2017
The cost and utilisation patterns of a pilot sign language interpreter service for primary health care services in South Africa.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Accessible Communication in Healthcare for Deaf People as a Linguistic Minority: A Scoping Review of Barriers, Mediation Strategies, and the Governance of Care.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Communication barriers to optimal access to emergency rooms according to deaf and hard-of-hearing patients and health care workers: A mixed-methods study.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2025Article
- Video Relay Interpretation and Overcoming Barriers in Health Care for Deaf Users: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Assessment of community pharmacists' communication and comfort levels when interacting with Deaf and hard of hearing patients.Pharmacy practiceArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe World Health Organisation estimates disabling hearing loss to be around 5.3%, while a study of hearing impairment and auditory pathology in Limpopo, South Africa found a prevalence of nearly 9%. Although Sign Language Interpreters (SLIs) improve the communication challenges in health care, they are unaffordable for many signing Deaf people and people with disabling hearing loss. On the other hand, there are no legal provisions in place to ensure the provision of SLIs in the health sector in most countries including South Africa. To advocate for funding of such initiatives, reliable cost estimates are essential and such data is scarce. To bridge this gap, this study estimated the costs of providing such a service within a South African District health service based on estimates obtained from a pilot-project that initiated the first South African Sign Language Interpreter (SASLI) service in health-care.
methodsThe ingredients method was used to calculate the unit cost per SASLI-assisted visit from a provider perspective. The unit costs per SASLI-assisted visit were then used in estimating the costs of scaling up this service to the District Health Services. The average annual SASLI utilisation rate per person was calculated on Stata v.12 using the projects' registry from 2008-2013. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to determine the effect of changing the discount rate and personnel costs.
resultsAverage Sign Language Interpreter services' utilisation rates increased from 1.66 to 3.58 per person per year, with a median of 2 visits, from 2008-2013. The cost per visit was US$189.38 in 2013 whilst the estimated costs of scaling up this service ranged from US$14.2million to US$76.5million in the Cape Metropole District. These cost estimates represented 2.3%-12.2% of the budget for the Western Cape District Health Services for 2013.
conclusionsIn the presence of Sign Language Interpreters, Deaf Sign language users utilise health care service to a similar extent as the hearing population. However, this service requires significant capital investment by government to enable access to healthcare for the Deaf.
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