“Patients and families who are language discordant with their clinical teams report lower
patient satisfaction, worse health status, and lower rates of having a regular healthcare
provider and obtaining preventive care services. When patients and parents with
a non-dominant language preference access care, they report difficulty communicating
and understanding medical information from providers, comprehending written medical
information, reading prescription bottles, and accessing interpretation services.
Individuals with non-dominant language preferences have also been shown to experience
more medical errors and adverse health events.”
Meta-analysis of studies that evaluated differences in 28-day or 30-day hospital readmission
rate among adult patients with versus without a dominant langauge preference, stratified
by studies that provided interpreter access or verified interpreter usage among patients with
non-dominant language preference versus studies in which interpreter access or use was not
specified. COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“Our findings demonstrate that language discordance for adult patients and parents of
pediatric patients is associated with greater odds of readmission and/or ED revisit, which is consistent with a prior review that found higher rates of readmission for adults admitted
for chronic medical conditions. We expand on prior reviews by quantitatively
demonstrating that: (a) both adult and pediatric unplanned ED revisit rate is also higher
when language discordance exists and (b) access to interpretation services may mitigate the
impact of language discordance on disparities in adult readmission rates.”
“One key finding from this study and other reviews is that literature on the
impact of language discordance on clinical or utilization outcomes is still quite limited,
much less the impact of language access interventions on these outcomes. Few studies of
interventions to address language discordance, such as providing professional interpretation
services, have focused on clinical or utilization outcomes.”
Chu, Janet N et al. “Association between language discordance and unplanned hospital readmissions or emergency department revisits: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” BMJ quality & safety vol. 33,7 456-469. 19 Jun. 2024, doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2023-016295
Surgical Focus 