Zhang Dangui, Jiang Zichun, Xie Yu, Wu Weiming, Zhao Yixuan, Huang Anqi, Li Tumei, Ba-Thein William
Research Center of Translational Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, P.R. China.
Undergraduate Research Training Program (UGRTP), Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, P.R. China.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Mar 22;22(1):376. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-07744-6.
China has 129 dialects with Mandarin as the standard and Chaoshan as the major dialect of the Chaoshan region in Guangdong. This study aimed to describe the dialect competence and usage, communication difficulty, impact of linguistic barriers, and subjective experience in healthcare.
Healthcare providers (n = 234) and healthcare consumers (n = 483) at two tertiary teaching hospitals in Shantou, Chaoshan region participated in an anonymous survey.
Chaoshan and Mandarin were spoken respectively by ca. 80% and 6.1% of the participants. Monolinguals accounted for 28.5%, including 16.8% of Chaoshan-speaking healthcare providers and 18% of Mandarin-speaking healthcare consumers. The monolinguals preferentially used their competent dialect (Ps < 0.001) and had significant communication difficulties (Ps < 0.0001), with the mean (SD) score of 3.06 (0.96) out of 4 with Mandarin for healthcare providers and 2.18 (1.78) and 1.64 (1.40) with Mandarin and Chaoshan, respectively, for healthcare consumers. The monolingual healthcare providers perceived significant negative impacts of linguistic barriers on the entire healthcare delivery process (Ps < 0.0001). Regression analyses showed the length of stay in the Chaoshan region as a protective factor of linguistic barrier with a limited protective effect.
This is the first report of significant linguistic barriers in healthcare imposed by Mandarin and Chaoshan dialects in Chaoshan, China. With perceived adverse impacts on the entire healthcare delivery and risks to the healthcare quality and burden, interventions such as professional interpreter service, service-learning interpreter program, or mobile interpreting apps that are medically accurate and culturally sensitive are suggested for dialectally diverse China.
中国有129种方言，以普通话为标准，潮汕话是广东潮汕地区的主要方言。本研究旨在描述方言能力与使用情况、沟通困难、语言障碍的影响以及医疗保健中的主观体验。
潮汕地区汕头的两家三级教学医院的医疗服务提供者（n = 234）和医疗消费者（n = 483）参与了一项匿名调查。
约80%和6.1%的参与者分别讲潮汕话和普通话。单语者占28.5%，其中包括16.8%讲潮汕话的医疗服务提供者和18%讲普通话的医疗消费者。单语者优先使用其擅长的方言（P值<0.001），且存在显著的沟通困难（P值<0.0001），医疗服务提供者使用普通话沟通时平均（标准差）得分为3.06（0.96）（满分4分），医疗消费者使用普通话和潮汕话沟通时的平均（标准差）得分分别为2.18（1.78）和1.64（1.40）。单语医疗服务提供者认为语言障碍对整个医疗服务过程有显著负面影响（P值<0.0001）。回归分析显示，在潮汕地区的居住时间是语言障碍的一个保护因素，但其保护作用有限。
这是中国潮汕地区普通话和潮汕话在医疗保健中造成显著语言障碍的首份报告。鉴于其对整个医疗服务的不利影响以及对医疗质量和负担的风险，建议在中国方言多样的地区采取诸如专业口译服务、服务学习口译项目或医学准确且文化敏感的移动口译应用程序等干预措施。
