Predictors of Appropriate Use of Interpreters: Identifying Professional Development Training Needs for Labor and Delivery Clinical Staff Serving Spanish-speaking Patients

Assuring quality health care services to limited English proficient patients requires certain skills, including the ability to communicate through interpreters. This study identifies predictors of appropriate use of interpreters by maternal labor and delivery service providers. Clinical labor and delivery staff (N=200) at five hospitals in an Eastern U.S. city completed a survey about providing care to Latinas. Multivariate logistic regression identified significant predictors for appropriate use of interpreters. The strongest association with appropriately using interpreters was relying less often on general mass media for medical information (OR= 2.25; p=.03). Other statistically significant variables included agreeing that learning about Latino history and culture could improve quality of care (OR=2.07; p =.02) and seeking medical information from colleagues at the same hospital (OR= 1.83; p=.03). Study findings have implications for training professionals about working with interpreters.