Accuracy of Google Translate in translating the directions and counseling points for top-selling drugs from English to Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish

Purpose: A study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of Google Translate (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA) when used to translate directions for use and counseling points for the top 100 drugs used in the United States into Arabic, Chinese (simplified), and Spanish.

Methods: Directions for use and common counseling points for the top 100 drugs were identified by 2 clinicians. This information was translated from English to Arabic, Chinese (simplified), and Spanish using Google Translate. Two nonclinician, bilingual native speakers of each language back-translated the Google Translate translation into English and determined if the sentence made sense in their native language. Two clinicians reviewed the back-translations to determine the clinical significance of each inaccurate translation.

Results: For the top 100 drugs, 38 unique directions for use and 170 unique counseling points were identified for translation. For the 38 directions for use, 29 (76.3%) of the Arabic translations were accurate, 34 (89.5%) of the Chinese (simplified) translations were accurate, and 27 (71%) of the Spanish translations were accurate. For the 170 counseling points, 92 (54.1%) of the Arabic translations were accurate, 130 (76.5%) of the Chinese (simplified) translations were accurate, and 65 (38.2%) of the Spanish translations were accurate. Of the 247 inaccurate translations, 72 (29.1%) were classified as highly clinically significant or potentially life-threatening.

Conclusion: Certified translators should be used to translate directions for use and common counseling points for prescription medications into Arabic, Chinese (simplified), and Spanish. Clinicians should be aware of the risk of inaccurate translation when Google Translate is used.