Instructions For Prescription Drugs Are Too Often Misunderstood

America's Pharmacist - June, 2003

Nearly one in 10 children whose parents speak English as a second language are given prescription medications incorrectly, according to a survey of about 600 people whose native language was Spanish, Russian, Chinese or Hindi. One third of those respondents have left their doctor's office without being clear about their medications because of a language barrier, the survey found. More than half of the Russian and Spanish speaking participants said they have found prescription drugs "impossible" to fully understand because of language problems.

"Respondents seemed reluctant to make sure they understood their prescriptions with 28 percent guessing at the proper dosage because they were not sure what their prescriptions said" reported TransPerfect Translations, which conducted the survey and provides language services to multinational companies. "Additionally, because they didn't totally understand that there are things that should not be done when taking drugs, 17 percent performed an activity they shouldn't have while on their medication".

About TransPerfect
With revenue of over $250 million, TransPerfect is the largest privately held language services provider in the world. From offices in 66 cities on 5 continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in over 100 languages to multinationals worldwide. With a global network of over 4,000 linguists and subject-area specialists, TransPerfect is the largest translation company to be fully ISO 9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified. TransPerfect is headquartered in New York and has regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.