Development and evaluation of the Communication over Language Barriers questionnaire (CoLB-q) in paediatric healthcare

Johanna Granhagen Jungner; Elisabet Tiselius; Marika Wenemark; Klas Blomgren; Kim Lützén; Pernilla Pergert

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2018.04.007

Development and evaluation of the Communication over Language Barriers questionnaire (CoLB-q) in paediatric healthcare

Patient Educ Couns. 2018 Sep;101(9):1661-1668. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2018.04.007. Epub 2018 Apr 22.

Authors

Johanna Granhagen Jungner¹, Elisabet Tiselius², Marika Wenemark³, Klas Blomgren⁴, Kim Lützén⁵, Pernilla Pergert⁶

Affiliations

¹ Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Floor 5, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: johanna.granhagen-jungner@ki.se.
² Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Floor 5, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism, Institute for Interpreting and Translation Studies, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: elisabet.tiselius@su.se.
³ Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, Division of Community Medicine, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden; Centre for Organisational Support and Development, Region Östergötland, SE-58185 Linköping, Sweden. Electronic address: marika.wenemark@liu.se.
⁴ Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Floor 5, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Pediatric Oncology, Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: klas.blomgren@ki.se.
⁵ Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Floor 5, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: kim.lutzen@ki.se.
⁶ Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Floor 5, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Pediatric Oncology, Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: pernilla.pergert@ki.se.

PMID: 29705667
DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2018.04.007

Abstract

Objective: To develop a valid and reliable questionnaire addressing the experiences of healthcare personnel of communicating over language barriers and using interpreters in paediatric healthcare.

Methods: A multiple- methods approach to develop and evaluate the questionnaire, including focus groups, cognitive interviews, a pilot test and test-retest. The methods were chosen in accordance with questionnaire development methodology to ensure validity and reliability.

Results: The development procedure showed that the issues identified were highly relevant to paediatric healthcare personnel and resulted in a valid and reliable Communication over Language Barriers questionnaire (CoLB-q) with 27 questions.

Conclusion: The CoLB-q is perceived as relevant, important and easy to respond to by respondents and has satisfactory validity and reliability.

Practice implications: The CoLB-q can be used to map how healthcare personnel overcome language barriers through communication tools and to identify problems encountered in paediatric healthcare. Furthermore, the transparently described process could be used as a guide for developing similar questionnaires.

Keywords: Communication; Interpreter; Language barriers; Paediatric healthcare; Questionnaire development.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Communication Barriers*
Communication*
Female
Focus Groups
Health Personnel*
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Male
Multilingualism*
Pediatrics*
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*
Translating*