ArticleBMC health services research2022
Linguistic barriers and healthcare in China: Chaoshan vs. Mandarin.
Article in BMC health services research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dialectical behavioral therapy-based prevention of non-suicidal self-harm among secondary students in China: a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- Communication Barriers in Patient-Provider Interactions in Health Care: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Article
- Perceived cultural continuity, self-schemas, self-esteem, and psychological distress among members of ethnic groups with endangered scripts in Southwest China.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Study on edge villages based on cross-region healthcare-seeking behavior.International journal of health geographics · 2025Article
- Compromised informed consent due to functional health literacy challenges in Chinese hospitals.BMC medical ethics · 2024Article
- Barriers to hospital-based phase 2 cardiac rehabilitation among patients with coronary heart disease in China: a mixed-methods study.BMC nursing · 2022Article
- Dialect culture and the utilization of public health service by rural migrants: Insights from China.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
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8 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundChina has 129 dialects with Mandarin as the standard and Chaoshan as the major dialect of the Chaoshan region in Guangdong. This study aimed to describe the dialect competence and usage, communication difficulty, impact of linguistic barriers, and subjective experience in healthcare.
methodsHealthcare providers (n = 234) and healthcare consumers (n = 483) at two tertiary teaching hospitals in Shantou, Chaoshan region participated in an anonymous survey.
resultsChaoshan and Mandarin were spoken respectively by ca. 80% and 6.1% of the participants. Monolinguals accounted for 28.5%, including 16.8% of Chaoshan-speaking healthcare providers and 18% of Mandarin-speaking healthcare consumers. The monolinguals preferentially used their competent dialect (Ps < 0.001) and had significant communication difficulties (Ps < 0.0001), with the mean (SD) score of 3.06 (0.96) out of 4 with Mandarin for healthcare providers and 2.18 (1.78) and 1.64 (1.40) with Mandarin and Chaoshan, respectively, for healthcare consumers. The monolingual healthcare providers perceived significant negative impacts of linguistic barriers on the entire healthcare delivery process (Ps < 0.0001). Regression analyses showed the length of stay in the Chaoshan region as a protective factor of linguistic barrier with a limited protective effect.
conclusionsThis is the first report of significant linguistic barriers in healthcare imposed by Mandarin and Chaoshan dialects in Chaoshan, China. With perceived adverse impacts on the entire healthcare delivery and risks to the healthcare quality and burden, interventions such as professional interpreter service, service-learning interpreter program, or mobile interpreting apps that are medically accurate and culturally sensitive are suggested for dialectally diverse China.
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