Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40533581›Full record

ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025

"Interpreters don't tell you everything": experiences with medical interpretation among Latino cancer patients and caregivers with limited English proficiency.

Eleanor Brown, Min Young Kim, Zaria N Cosby, Julian P Howland, Lucas Carpenter, Patricia Castañeda, Maria Gonzalez, Miriam T Hernandez, Kristen M Davis-Lopez, Ysabel Duron and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Lessons from the field: culturally grounded approaches to recruiting Chinese American immigrant cancer patients to psycho-oncology trials.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
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

14 authors.

Eleanor BrownDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Min Young KimOakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester, MI, USA.
Zaria N CosbyStanford-Surgery Policy Improvement Research and Education Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford, CA, USA.
Julian P HowlandDepartment of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Lucas CarpenterBrigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA.
Patricia CastañedaVisión y Compromiso, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Maria GonzalezVisión y Compromiso, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Miriam T HernandezVisión y Compromiso, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Kristen M Davis-LopezStanford-Surgery Policy Improvement Research and Education Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford, CA, USA.
Ysabel DuronThe Latino Cancer Institute, San Jose, CA, USA.
Gladys M RodriguezDivision of Hematology and Oncology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Sandra S ZakyDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Arden M MorrisStanford-Surgery Policy Improvement Research and Education Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford, CA, USA.
Aaron J DawesStanford-Surgery Policy Improvement Research and Education Center, Department of Surgery, Stanford, CA, USA. ajdawes@stanford.edu.

Funding

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health KL2TR003143
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeLanguage is an underrecognized social driver of health that disproportionately affects Hispanic/Latino (H/L) patients and can negatively impact comprehension and engagement with medical care. Professional interpretation services can help overcome language barriers in the clinic or hospital setting; however, interpreters are not universally available and, even when they are, the quality of communication can be limited. In this secondary analysis of a qualitative study which examined the barriers and facilitators H/L patients and their caregivers experience when navigating rectal cancer care, we sought to explore how Spanish-speaking rectal cancer patients and their caregivers communicated with oncology providers and the ways in which professional interpretation may have facilitated or detracted from their care experiences.

methodsWe conducted a community-partnered qualitative study to explore H/L patients with rectal cancer and their caregivers' experiences with medical interpretation during their oncologic care. We developed an interview guide based on the Ecological Model of Health Behavior and iteratively refined it with input from our Community Advisory Board. Data analysis utilized grounded theory and reflexive thematic analysis to identify core themes.

resultsOver a 6-month period, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews. Three major themes related to language arose from our review of coded transcripts: (1) interpreters' use of medical jargon; (2) dialect discordance between patient and hospital interpreter; and (3) lack of trust in the interpretation process.

conclusionOur sample of H/L rectal cancer patients and their caregivers reported barriers due to overuse of medical jargon and dialectic differences, both of which eroded trust in the interpretation process. Beyond simply hiring more interpreters, hospitals would benefit from re-envisioning the patient-interpreter relationship as a means of improving communication and fostering trust in the healthcare system.

Indexed as

CaregiversCommunication BarriersHispanic or LatinoLimited English ProficiencyRectal NeoplasmsTranslatingAdultAgedFemaleHumansInterviews as TopicLanguageMaleMedical InterpretingMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchColorectal cancerCommunity engagedHealth disparitiesHispanic/LatinoLanguage barriers

Identifiers

PMID40533581

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.