Emergency Department Care for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Limited English proficiency (LEP) patients may be particularly vulnerable in the high acuity and fast-paced setting of the emergency department (ED). OBJECTIVE:To compare the care processes of LEP patients in the ED. DESIGN:Retrospective cohort study. SETTING:ED in a large tertiary care academic medical center. PATIENTS:Adult LEP and English Proficient (EP) patients during their index presentation to the ED from September 1, 2013, to August 31, 2015. LEP patients were identified as those who selected a preferred language other than English when registering for care. MAIN MEASURES:Rates of diagnostic studies, admission, and return visits for those originally discharged from the ED. KEY RESULTS:We studied 57,435 visits of which 5241 (9.1%) were for patients with LEP. In adjusted analyses, LEP patients were more likely to receive an X-ray/ultrasound (OR 1.11, CI 1.03-1.19) and be admitted to the hospital (OR 1.09, CI 1.01-1.19). There was no difference in 72-h return visits (OR 0.98, CI 0.73-1.33). LEP patients presenting with complaints related to the cardiovascular system were more likely to receive a stress test (OR 1.51, CI 1.22-1.86), and those with gastrointestinal diagnoses were more likely to have an X-ray/ultrasound (OR 1.31, CI 1.02-1.68). In stratified analyses, Spanish speakers were less likely to be admitted (OR 0.8, CI 0.70-0.91), but those preferring "other" languages, which were all languages with

SUBMITTER: Schulson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6258635 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature