Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to determine the results of language barriers on patient perception of therapy outcomes and patient satisfaction after rehabilitation in outpatient physical therapy practice. Based on a literature review, it was postulated that Spanish speaking patients, who are not fluent in English, would benefit more from having a physical therapist who also speaks Spanish. Data was collected by use of an anonymous survey instrument translated into Spanish, which was given to patients at participating facilities after receiving one month of physical therapy services. The instruments used in this study were the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) Physical Therapy Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire with added questions for outcome measures from a second survey developed from the APTA’s Guide to Physical Therapy Practice (2nd ed) by Jeff Coe (2006). The reliability of these instruments is excellent, with a high Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (r = .99 and r = .82 respectively). Due to the small sample size of this study (n=11), the results do not demonstrate a statistical significance. However, the raw data does show discrepancy in the patient’s perception of the therapy outcomes due to high language barriers. The results of this study, although not statistically significant, demonstrate that patients who did not have a language barrier with their physical therapist were likely to have higher levels of improved treatment outcomes. This study does not demonstrate a difference between language barriers and patient satisfaction. A limiting factor of this study includes the sample size and its homogeneity, therefore lacking sample diversity. Future research should aim for a larger sample size and could focus on significant differences in other languages, cultures, ethnicities, and other geographical regions in Florida.