USE OF A BILINGUAL MEDICAL HISTORY QUESTIONNAIRE IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Study objective: To demonstrate that a complete and rapid clinical his tory can be obtained using a self-administered, bilingual questionnair e. Design: A post-test experimental design was used to evaluate time s pent obtaining the history and information completeness for the two gr oups. Setting: Urban county emergency department. Participants: All pa tients were non-English-speaking Hispanic women who presented with gyn ecologic complaints. Methods: Fifty-five patients completed a history questionnaire in Spanish on a form that displayed their responses in E nglish on the carbon copy. In the control group, a history was obtaine d using a bilingual interpreter. Results: Average completion time was significantly less (t= 14.38; P< .0001) for the experimental group (ch i2 = 5.67 minutes; SD, 1.89) than for controls (chi2 = 14.58 minutes; SD, 4.19). There was no statistical difference in review criteria for documentation between groups. Conclusion: Using a bilingual questionna ire to obtain a clinical history results in more rapid patient evaluat ion without affecting the quality of information obtained.