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Survey-Based Evaluation of an Innovative Speech-Enabled Translator in Emergency Settings: A Phase II Cohort Study

38 Pages Posted: 28 Oct 2021

See all articles by Antony Akash Janakiram

Antony Akash Janakiram

University of Geneva - Division of Community Medicine

Johanna Gerlach

University of Geneva

Pierrette Bouillon

University of Geneva

Hervé Spechbach

Geneva University Hospitals - Division and Department of Primary Care

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Abstract

Background: Emergency services are often confronted with patients who have no language in common with medical staff. As interpreters are not always available, medical personnel must rely on alternative solutions such as machine translation or medical fixed-phrase translators, which are sometimes lacking in usability. We aimed to evaluate patient and doctor satisfaction and perceived efficacy of a novel, speech-enabled, fixed-phrase translation tool (“BabelDr”) in real-life situations.

Methods: We did a survey-based evaluation of BabelDr among a cohort of 30 of 42 eligible allophone patients visiting the outpatient emergency unit of Geneva University Hospitals (Geneva, Switzerland) between Nov 29, 2018, and Jan 31, 2020 (mean age, 38·2 years; male, 53·3% [n=16]) and their assigned doctors. Selected patients had no understanding of the local (French) language. Languages evaluated were Albanian (n=1), Arabic (n=4), Farsi (n=7), Spanish (n=11), and Tigrinya (n=7).

Findings: Ninety percent (n=27) of patients and 86·6% (n=26) of doctors had a positive impression of the translation tool. Additionally, 90% (n=27) of patients felt that the tool enabled them to tell the doctor why they came to the emergency room and 93·3% (n=28) expressed that they understood the tool’s translations. Forty percent (n=12) of patients also stated that they would not have preferred to use an interpreter during the consultation.  Concerning perceived efficacy, 93·3% (n=28) of doctors affirmed that they could understand the patient’s health problem and 80% (n=24) were able to make a diagnosis. Results showed a significant positive association (P<0·05) between doctors’ appreciation of the different features of the tool and their overall satisfaction with its use.

Conclusion: In an emergency context, the fixed-phrase translation system BabelDr is a suitable tool for diagnostic interviews and a valid alternative when no interpreter is available.

Clinical Trial Registration Details: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT04788966.

Funding Information: Private Foundation of Geneva University Hospitals.

Declaration of Interests: All authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Geneva regional ethics committee (ID REQ-2017-00996). Prior to participation, non-French speaking patients were asked to read an information leaflet about the study in their own language and give informed written consent for their participation.

Keywords: Keywords: emergency room, allophone patients, quality of care, phraselator, machine translation

Suggested Citation

Janakiram, Antony Akash and Gerlach, Johanna and Bouillon, Pierrette and Spechbach, Hervé, Survey-Based Evaluation of an Innovative Speech-Enabled Translator in Emergency Settings: A Phase II Cohort Study. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3951777 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3951777

Antony Akash Janakiram (Contact Author)

University of Geneva - Division of Community Medicine ( email )

4 Rue Gabrielle Perret Gentil
1211 Geneva 14
Switzerland

Johanna Gerlach

University of Geneva ( email )

102 Bd Carl-Vogt
Genève, CH - 1205
Switzerland

Pierrette Bouillon

University of Geneva ( email )

102 Bd Carl-Vogt
Genève, CH - 1205
Switzerland

Hervé Spechbach

Geneva University Hospitals - Division and Department of Primary Care ( email )

Geneva, CH-1211
Switzerland

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