Table 1.
Presence of Interpreters at Three Types of Clinical Encounters by Patient Characteristics (N = 234), at Two Hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, 2005–2008
| N | Interpreter present with physician at admission N (%) | P value | Interpreter present with physicians since admission N (%) | P value | Interpreter present with nurses since admission N (%) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 0.0001 | 0.03 | 0.003 | ||||
| 18-24 | 28 | 11 (39) | 16 (57) | 8 (29) | |||
| 25-49 | 128 | 61 (48) | 68 (54) | 37 (29) | |||
| 50-64 | 46 | 33 (77) | 27 (66) | 21 (49) | |||
| ≥ 65 | 32 | 25 (78) | 26 (81) | 19 (59) | |||
| Sex | 0.28 | 0.95 | 1.0 | ||||
| Men | 126 | 66 (53) | 74 (60) | 46 (37) | |||
| Women | 108 | 64 (60) | 63 (61) | 39 (37) | |||
| Education | 0.58 | 0.19 | 0.03 | ||||
| Less than High School graduate | 183 | 104 (57) | 112 (63) | 73 (40) | |||
| High School graduate or more | 51 | 26 (53) | 25 (52) | 12 (24) | |||
| Primary language | 0.002 | 0.03 | <0.0001 | ||||
| Cantonese/Mandarin | 35 | 25 (78) | 22 (69) | ||||
| Spanish | 199 | 112 (57) | 63 (32) | ||||
| Co-morbidity Score | 0.04 | 0.17 | 0.02 | ||||
| 0 | 56 | 24 (43) | 28 (51) | 13 (23) | |||
| 1 | 62 | 33 (53) | 40 (66) | 26 (41) | |||
| 2 | 38 | 23 (61) | 20 (53) | 11 (29) | |||
| 3 or more | 74 | 50 (68) | 49 (67) | 35 (47) | |||
| 104 (53) | |||||||
| Hospital Service | 0.95 | 0.004 | 0.0002 | ||||
| Medical | 90 | 50 (57) | 63 (72) | 46 (52) | |||
| Surgical/Gyn | 142 | 79 (56) | 73 (53) | 39 (28) |