最近，美国研究人员的调查表明，在美国以不会说或仅能有限度地说英语的华裔和西班牙裔侨民再次住院的比例最高，但值得庆幸的是这部分人发病后30天内的死亡率、住院花费和住院时间并无明显的增加。事实上，针对近十年来日益增多的英语水平有限的侨民，美国医疗卫生服务系统已经开始配备专职翻译，以改善服务。统计表明，目前约有14%的不会说英语的患者看医生时享用专职翻译服务。另外，某都市大学医院接诊的7023例病人中，仅有84%的患者能够说英语，另外有8%的华裔患者、4%西班牙裔患者和4%俄国裔患者根本就不会说英语。由此可见，在美国医院内需要有既能够说英文，又具备一定医学知识的专业翻译，以服务于那些不能够或仅能有限度地说英语的就诊患者。同时也提醒大家，语言对生活在异国他乡的人而言是何等重要！

Language barriers related to increased hospital readmissions for Chinese- and Spanish-speaking patients

The number of patients in the United States who do not speak English or speak only limited English has risen in recent decades, presenting a challenge to health care systems to provide high-quality, patient-centered care for this group. In fact, a new study found that Chinese and Spanish speakers were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital than English speakers. However, 30-day mortality rates and hospital costs and length of stay were similar for non-English and English speakers.

When the researchers looked more closely at outcomes by language-ethnicity group, they found that when compared directly with English-speaking Asians and Latinos, Chinese and Spanish speakers' higher readmission rates persisted. Among English speakers, blacks had the highest and Latinos the lowest readmission rates.

The results indicate that language barriers may contribute to higher readmission rates for non-English speakers, but have less impact on care efficiency or mortality. 　Since only 14 percent of the non-English speaking patients used professional staff interpreters, the researchers suggest a need to develop and assess best practices for creating a culture of professional interpreter use in the hospital. Included in the study were 7,023 patients admitted to an urban university hospital who spoke English (84 percent), Chinese (8 percent), Spanish (4 percent), and Russian (4 percent). This study was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HS10597, HS11416).

See "Influence of language barriers on outcomes of hospital care in general medicine in patients," by Leah S. Karliner, M.D., Sue E. Kim, Ph.D., David O. Meltzer, M.D., Ph.D., and Andrew D. Auerbach, M.D., in the Journal of Hospital Medicine 5, pp. 276-282, 2010.