This study explored whether concordance between self- and clinician- assessment of functioning differs when an interpreter is used in therapy versus when there is language congruence between the clinician and the patient, and whether concordance is affected by patient distress. Participants were 418 Spanish-speaking patients seen at one of three primary care clinics. Patients were primarily Hispanic (94 %), uninsured (65 %), and female (84 %), and ranged in age from 18 to 73 years (M = 41.70, SD = 10.70). Pearson's correlation coefficients assessed the association between self- and clinician- reports of patient functioning with and without use of an interpreter. Fisher's z transformations assessed the significance of the difference between the correlation coefficients. Although interpreter use did not significantly disrupt communication of functioning when the patient was highly distressed, there was significant discordance in clinician and patient reports in patients experiencing milder levels of distress communicating by means of an interpreter.
Keywords: Health disparities; Hispanic Americans; Integrated behavioral health care; Interpreter use.