Abstract
Patient satisfaction and health-related quality of life are important outcomes in physical therapy practice. With the rapid growth of the Hispanic population in the United States, there has also been growth in the population who speaks limited English or no English at all. This population is particularly at risk for language barriers. The purpose of this study was to determine if language barriers had an effect on patient satisfaction and health-related quality of life. Thirty-one subjects participated. Group 1 (English speaking therapist) consisted of eight and Group 2 (English and Spanish speaking therapist) of twenty-three. Data was collected by the use of the APTA’s Physical Therapy Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire and Dartmouth COOP Charts. No significant differences between groups in Physical Therapy Patient Satisfaction score were found. No significant effect of language on health-related quality of life was found. The study was limited by the small sample size which may have contributed to the lack of significant differences among the groups. The therapist’s language did not seem to have an effect on the patients’ perceived health-related quality of life or patient satisfaction. However, despite the language of the physical therapist, subjects had an increase in their perceived health-related quality of life. Future studies with larger sample size are needed to continue exploring this area.