Prescription Drug Confusion Becoming Widespread in the United States
News

PharmaVOICE - June, 2003

Nearly one in 10 children have been given medication incorrectly because of translation difficulties. The finding comes from a recent survey of 592 people who speak English as a second language in some of the fastest growing communities in the United States. TransPerfect Translations' study found that 33% of respondents said they have left their doctor's office without being clear about their medications because of a language barrier.

Respondents - 28% of those surveyed - reported guessing at the proper dosage because they were not sure what their prescription said. Additionally, because they didn't completely understand that there are things that should not be done when taking drugs, 17% were found to have performed an activity they shouldn't have while on their medication. Respondents included people who spoke English as a second language, a large number of whom were native Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, and Russian speakers.

The effects on the Spanish-speaking community were found to be almost epidemic in proportion to other groups - with more than half of the Spanish-speaking participants responding that they had difficulty understanding the proper use of a prescription drug.

"Clearly, this is a very serious problem," says Liz Elting, president and CEO of TransPerfect Translations. "I have seen terrible and even life-threatening mistakes. One woman who was surveyed told us her mother had passed away because of improper use of drugs because of a language barrier. One word could be deadly. An example is the English word 'once' on a prescription that indicates taking a drug one time a day. In Spanish, 'once' means 11".



Those translating prescription drug information must be experts not only in the language but also in the field of medicine. Simply using a bright language student or doctor's assistant who may be bilingual could put the patient at risk, says Liz Elting.

 

Chinese-speaking respondents had the fewest problems understanding their medications, while Russian-speaking and Spanish-speaking respondents had the most difficulty. For example, 52% of the Russian-speaking participants and 57% of the Spanish-speaking participants said they found prescription drugs impossible to fully understand because of language difficulties. But only 19% of the participants of Indian descent and 8% of Chinese-speaking participants responded the same way.

INTERPRETING THE FACTS
  • MORE THAN HALF of the SPANISH-SPEAKING respondents found it impossible to fully understand their prescription drugs because of language difficulties.
  • MORE THAN HALF of SPANISH-SPEAKING respondents said there was an unclear term on their prescription drug - 10% of those say it was dosage that confused them the most, while 6% said they didn't understand the medical terminology that was used. 
  • 47% of SPANISH-SPEAKING patients have described a bad experience because of a language barrier - 9% had trouble determining the meaning of before, with, or after their meals.
  • 44% of SPANISH-SPEAKING participants said they have at one time taken the wrong dosage because they had trouble translating the instructions into Spanish, while only 15% of Russian-speaking participants said they have taken the wrong dosage.
  • 33% of ALL respondents surveyed have left the doctor's office without being fully clear about their medication.
  • 29% of SPANISH-SPEAKING participants know of an elderly relative that has taken medication improperly because he or she didn't understand the instructions.
  • 28% of  ALL respondents guessed at the proper dosage to take because they weren't sure what it said.
  • 17% have performed an activity that they shouldn't have while on their medication.
  • 16% of HINDI-SPEAKING participants said there was a term that was unclear on their medication due to their inability to fully translate the instructions from English.
  • 12% of HINDI-SPEAKING participants admitted they had difficulty with the pharmacist's explanation of their prescription drug because of a language barrier.
  • 12% of SPANISH-SPEAKING participants said they drank alcohol while on their medication because they didn't understand the instructions, and 8% drove a car when they shouldn't have been operating heavy machinery.
  • 11% of RUSSIAN-SPEAKING respondents said that they had trouble understanding the instructions for Zocor, while only 1% misunderstood the instructions for Viagra.

Source: TransPerfect Translations, New York.
For more information, visit www.transperfect.com.

About TransPerfect
With revenue of over $250 million, TransPerfect is the largest privately held language services provider in the world. From offices in 66 cities on 5 continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in over 100 languages to multinationals worldwide. With a global network of over 4,000 linguists and subject-area specialists, TransPerfect is the largest translation company to be fully ISO 9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified. TransPerfect is headquartered in New York and has regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.