Are Latinos less satisfied with communication by health care providers?

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations of patient ratings of communication by h ealth care providers with patient language (English vs Spanish) and ethnici ty (Latino vs white). METHODS: A random sample of patients receiving medical care from a physicia n group association concentrated on the West Coast was studied. A total of 7,093 English and Spanish language questionnaires were returned for an over all response rate of 59%, Five questions asking patients to rate communicat ion by their health care providers were examined in this study. All five qu estions were administered with a 7-point response scale. MAIN RESULTS:We estimated the associations of satisfaction ratings with lan guage (English vs Spanish) and ethnicity (white vs Latino) using ordinal lo gistic models, controlling for age and gender. Latinos responding in Spanis h (Latino/Spanish) were significantly more dissatisfied compared with Latin os responding in English (Latino/English) and non-Latino whites responding in English (white) when asked about: (1) the medical staff listened to what they say (29% vs 17% vs 13% rated this "very poor," "poor," or "fair"; p < .01); (2) answers to their questions (27% vs 16% vs 12%; p < .01); (3) exp lanations about prescribed medications (22% vs 19% vs 14%; p < .01); (4) ex planations about medical procedures and test results (36% vs 21% vs 17%; p < .01); and (5) reassurance and support from their doctors and the office s taff (37% vs 23% vs 18%; p < .01). CONCLUSION: This study documents that Latino/Spanish respondents are signif icantly more dissatisfied with provider communication than Latino/English a nd white respondents. These results suggest Spanish-speaking Latinos may be at increased risk of lower quality of care and poor health outcomes. Effor ts to improve the quality of communication with Spanish-speaking Latino pat ients In outpatient health care settings are needed.