When translated PROMs were unavailable, PROMs completion rates among LEP patients were lower than English-speaking counterparts
Source
Allar (2022). Lost in translation: A qualitative analysis of facilitators and barriers to collecting patient reported outcome measures for surgical patients with limited English proficiency. The American Journal of Surgery.
Description #
Providers reported that, when a validated translated PROM was not available in the patient's preferred language, PROMs completion rates among LEP patients were lower than among their English-speaking counterparts (Table 1). This is a provider-perceived comparison, not a measured completion-rate statistic.
"When a translated PROMs was not available, rates of PROMs completion among patients with LEP were lower than those of their English-speaking counterparts." (Allar, 2022, p. 516)
Methods Context #
What? #ⓘ
The observable: the relative rate of PROMs completion for LEP patients versus English-speaking patients, as reported by providers in interviews.
"When a translated PROMs was not available, rates of PROMs completion among patients with LEP were lower than those of their English-speaking counterparts." (Allar, 2022, p. 516)
How? #ⓘ
Semi-structured qualitative interviews analyzed thematically; findings are provider-reported perceptions rather than chart-audited completion counts.
"Semi-structured interviews were performed with providers from multiple surgical disciplines across six academic medical centers until thematic saturation was achieved." (Allar, 2022, p. 514)
Who? #ⓘ
Twenty-four surgical providers across six Boston-area academic medical centers, drawn from general surgery, orthopedics, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, and gynecologic oncology.
"Specialties included general surgery (n = 6), orthopedic surgery (n = 4), otolaryngology (n = 11, including 2 NPs and 1 SLP), plastic surgery (n = 2), and gynecology-oncology (n = 1)." (Allar, 2022, p. 515)
Caveats #
- PROMs completion comparison is provider-reported perception, not measured completion rates - Allar 2022 [Inferred: this limitation is not stated as such by the authors but follows from the study's qualitative interview design.] The finding that PROMs completion rates were lower among LEP patients than English-speaking patients is a provider-reported perception elicited in semi-structured interviews and thematically coded — not a chart-audited or measured completion-rate statistic. No numeric completion rates, denominators, or statistical comparison are reported, so the direction is credible as an experienced-provider impression but the magnitude is unquantified and subject to recall and selection bias.