Should you use Google Translate
This research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): Assessing the Use of Google Translate for Spanish and Chinese Translations of Emergency Department Discharge Instructions
Reviewed the use of Google Translate to help explain instructions to patients. As I noted it’s an option but has some associated risks:
Should you use @Google translate for medical advice? Paper in @JAMA_current shows results have been getting better as a backup option but still 2%-8% potentially life-threatening errors in patient guidance #medtwitter #digitalhealth https://t.co/yQZiX0TWNb pic.twitter.com/RE3YQIT7uG
— Nick van Terheyden, MD – The Incrementalist (@drnic1) February 26, 2019
The paper looked at the process of translating patient instructions using the readily available and free service of google translate. As they discovered the accuracy is fairly high – better with Spanish vs Chinese (the two languages they looked at) but it remains imperfect
It offers a good backup option but in instances where it is used patients need to be warned that the translation isn’t perfect. As the authors suggested it is best used where the instructions do not contain complex grammar or medical jargon and in your incremental step – include the English instructions with any translated version offering patients the opportunity to access their own personal network of the family an friends who can help compare and validate the automated translation
