COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH TO SPANISH TRANSLATIONS OF INFORMED CONSENT FORMS
Hispanic Americans represent the largest ethnic minority group in the United States and 55% of this minority have limited English proficiency. As a result, there is a significant need to translate ICFs into Spanish for participants to clinical studies. The consequences of poor translation quality in the English to Spanish pair in the medical field should not be underestimated. Researchers should be aware of the varying range and degree of issues that inaccurate, imprecise, and culturally incongruent translations can introduce.
A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study (see Resources about Common Errors in English to Spanish Translation of ICFs at bottom of page) identified three primary types of problems of relevance for study researchers where translation of written information is required. These included nonequivalent registers (in particular, the introduction of more complicated language), errors of omission (reducing the clarity of the information), and changes that altered the substantive meaning of the information.
Medical language in Spanish is also riddled with false friends (terms which seem very similar or have almost identical spelling in English and Spanish, but which have different meanings in each language). A few examples are found in the following table. The comments are mostly our English adaptation of Fernando A. Navarro’s Dictionary of Doubts and Difficulties in English-Spanish Medical Translation.
| ENGLISH | FALSE FRIEND | SPANISH CORRECT TRANSLATION | COMMENTS |
| agent | agente | 1. fármaco or medicamento
2. microbio or microorganismo |
Note: “agent” has many meanings depending on the context. In the medical field it often indicates a substance capable of producing a biological effect. On many occasions it is not necessary to translate it: “antiallergic agent” (“antiallergic”); “antineoplastic agent” (“antineoplastic”) etc. It is correct to translate it as “agente” in the more general sense of “agente físico”, “agente químico” or “agente causal” |
| asume/to | asumir | suponer, dar por sentado, dar por cierto, aceptar, admitir, presumir, presuponer | In medical texts, it usually does not mean “to take charge,” “to take responsibility for something” or “to accept” something, but rather “taking for granted,” “admitting,” “presuming,” “presupposing.” |
| condition
|
condición | enfermedad, proceso, dolencia, afección, cuadro clínico, padecimiento, trastorno, alteración or anomalía, depending on the context
|
There is a growing current of opinion among doctors, health professionals, and groups of Spanish-speaking patients that defends the use of “condition” in at least three situations: a) well-controlled chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, which when treated do not prevent those who suffer from them from leading a normal and even healthy life; b) physical disabilities such as blindness or deafness, and c) mental deficiencies and psychiatric disorders such as autism, Down’s syndrome and bipolar disorder. In many of these cases it is true that ‘disease’ and ‘disorder’ do not express the concept that is intended in Spanish. Other terms, such as “alteration”, “anomaly”, “clinical picture”, “’process”, “circumstance” or others, depending on the context express the intended meaning better. |
| drug | droga | depending on the context, drug can be translated as:
|
In general, the use of the word drug in medical texts refers to substances used to treat a disease, while in Spanish, the word “droga” is usually associated with narcotic drugs. |
| embarrass/to
|
embarazar | poner en un aprieto, turbar, hacer pasar vergüenza or poner en apuros; también avergonzarse or pasar vergüenza | It does not mean “to get pregnant” or “to make pregnant”, but to “embarrass”, “to bother”, “to confuse”, “to disorientate”, “to make ashamed”. |
| infant | infante | lactante, bebé o niño de pecho | In English an “infant” is child during the earliest period of his life, esp. before it can walk, a baby. |
| intoxication/intoxicated | intoxicación | alcoholismo agudo, borrachera or embriaguez | In English, to be intoxicated refers to being under the influence of stimulating substances, (especially alcohol) or in an altered emotional state. Therefore, most of the time, “intoxication” does not mean “poisoning,”but rather under the influence of alcohol, drunkenness. |
| molest/to | molestar | importunar, acosar o abusar (sexualmente) de alguien | To molest in English means “to pester”, “to harass” or “to abuse” (sexually) someone.
Depending on the nature of the abuse, the following translation options may be considered: • “sexual harassment”: if sexual favors are requested in a context of a work, educational or similar situation, • “dishonest abuse”: non-consensual abuse, although there is no violence or intimidation • ”sexual assault”: with violence or intimidation |
|
Fernando A. Navarro, Diccionario de dudas y dificultades de traducción del inglés médico (3.ª edición), Versión 3.15; marzo de 2020 Valdés, E. and Bosquet, R., 2020. Los Falsos Amigos en el lenguaje de la medicina – http://www.revcirugia.sld.cu/index.php/cir/article/view/587/269> . https://www.traduality.com/blog/cuidado-con-estos-falsos-amigos-en-textos-medicos/?lang=es NCBI look at three basic types of translation errors in English to Spanish ICF translations – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6218315/ Designing and Implementing a Spanish-Language Multi-Site Clinical Trial – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3628724/ Los falsos cognados en la traducción medica (page 116) – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303896458 |
