Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39954380›Full record

ArticlePatient education and counseling2025

Partial language concordance in primary care communication: What is lost, what is gained, and how to optimize.

Genevieve Leung, Dennis Dea, Evelyn Y Ho, Lisa Diamond, Maria E Garcia, Leah Karliner

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Patient education and counseling, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Genevieve LeungDepartment of Rhetoric and Language, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, USA. Electronic address: gleung2@usfca.edu.
Dennis DeaLarner College of Medicine, The University of Vermont, 89 Beaumont Avenue, Burlington, USA.
Evelyn Y HoAsian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, USA; Department of Communication Studies, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, USA.
Lisa DiamondDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, USA.
Maria E GarciaDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, 490 Illinois Street, #92F, San Francisco, USA; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 1545 Divisadero Street, #262, San Francisco, USA.
Leah KarlinerDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 1545 Divisadero Street, #262, San Francisco, USA.

Funding

X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHYP30CA008748 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RES · PI SELWYN M VICKERS · 1985 to 2026
$347.4M
Mentoring Researchers on Clinical Communication With Diverse Aging PopulationsK24AG067003 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI KARLINER, LEAH S · 2021 to 2025
$943k
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA008748NIA NIH HHS K24 AG067003
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveIn healthcare encounters, partial language concordance occurs when clinicians have some linguistic ability in the patient's preferred non-English language or patients have some linguistic ability in English or another language (e.g., Mandarin when their preferred language is Cantonese). While the best practice is to work with qualified professional interpreters in these cases, oftentimes visits occur without qualified interpretation. This paper seeks to understand how these partially concordant visits are conducted and how they may be optimized to meet legal standards of non-discrimination.

methods19 partially concordant primary care visits with Chinese speaking patients were analyzed using discourse analysis.

resultsFindings illustrate expected communication challenges and unexpected benefits of partial language concordance. While partial language concordance can facilitate rapport building, vocabulary and fluency limitations can also open the door to miscommunication. We also observed how implicit and explicit request of a qualified interpreter to be on standby during the visit can be utilized by the physician to facilitate communication.

conclusionsCommunication might be optimized by the inclusion of a qualified interpreter with an explicit discussion at the beginning defining interpreter roles. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Discussions with interpreters and how they can best engage throughout could retain the rapport created by a shared language, while minimizing miscommunication and errors.

Indexed as

CommunicationCommunication BarriersLanguagePhysician-Patient RelationsPrimary Health CareTranslatingAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedChinese AmericansDiscourse analysisMedical language interpretationPartial language concordancePrimary care

Identifiers

PMID39954380
PMCPMC13138835

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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.