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Good practice Imported

Video Remote Sign Language Interpreting for Deaf Patients — A Randomized Trial in Bogotá Finds Real but Partial Gains

Colombia · Bogotá · See the Colombia profile · See the Bogotá profile

Evidence: Randomised controlled trial Top 82% 52/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A 210-patient randomized trial at a Bogotá public hospital tested video remote sign-language interpreting for Deaf patients against standard communication, finding significant gains in some communication domains but concluding the technology alone was not sufficient.

210
Patients randomized (Aug 2023-Oct 2024)
108
VRI group size
102
Control group size
OR 2.49, P<.001
Decisional involvement improvement

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Clínica de Nuestra Señora de la Paz, with Universidad del Rosario, University of Geneva, Rochester Institute of Technology and University College London
Period
2023–2024
Keywords
healthcare, sign language interpreting, disability, public hospital

Context

Most prior evidence on video remote interpreting (VRI) for Deaf patients came from high-income countries, despite most Deaf and hard-of-hearing people living in low- and middle-income countries.

Activities

Researchers randomised 210 Deaf adults who use Colombian Sign Language at a Bogotá public hospital (Aug 2023-Oct 2024) to VRI via a 32-inch screen (108 patients) or standard communication methods (102 patients), measuring quality with a validated 13-item Doctor-Patient Communication scale.

Results

VRI produced statistically significant improvements in attentiveness (OR 1.90, P=.02), physical examination (OR 2.19, P=.01), completeness (OR 1.90, P=.02) and decisional involvement (OR 2.49, P<.001), with no significant difference on understanding, clarity or feeling listened to.

Conclusions

The authors concluded VRI alone is not sufficient to ensure quality communication; patient literacy, interpreter-training oversight and reliable infrastructure access must also be in place.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
sign-language interpreters, 32-inch screen/video-conferencing setup

Conditions for success

  • patient literacy
  • oversight of interpreter training
  • reliable infrastructure access

Common failure modes

  • no significant difference in understanding, clarity, or feeling listened to

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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