Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35349026›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2022

Specialty Care Utilization Among Adults with Limited English Proficiency.

Jessica Himmelstein, Christopher Cai, David U Himmelstein, Steffie Woolhandler, David H Bor, Samuel L Dickman, Danny McCormick

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.4field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Jessica HimmelsteinDepartment of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA. jhimmelstein@challiance.org.ORCID 0000-0001-7115-8559
Christopher CaiDepartment of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
David U HimmelsteinDepartment of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Steffie WoolhandlerDepartment of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA.
David H BorDepartment of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Samuel L DickmanPlanned Parenthood South Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Danny McCormickDepartment of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Cambridge Health Alliance · USBrigham and Women's Hospital · USPlanned Parenthood · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople with limited English proficiency (LEP) face greater barriers to accessing medical care than those who are English proficient (EP). Language-related differences in the use of outpatient care across the full spectrum of physician specialties have not been studied.

objectiveTo compare outpatient visit rates to physicians in 28 specialties by people with LEP vs EP.

designMultivariable negative binomial regression analysis of nationally representative data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (pooled 2013-2018) with adjustment for age, sex, and self-reported health status.

participants149,611 survey respondents aged 18 and older. EXPOSURE: LEP, defined as taking the survey in a language other than English. MAIN MEASURES: Annual per capita adjusted visit rate ratios (ARRs) comparing visit rates by LEP and EP persons to individual specialties, and to three categories of specialties: (1) primary care (internal or family medicine, geriatrics, general practice, or obstetrics/gynecology), (2) medical-subspecialties, or (3) surgical specialties. KEY

resultsPatients with LEP were underrepresented in 26 of 28 specialties. Disparities were particularly large for the following: pulmonology (ARR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.20-0.35), orthopedics (ARR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.30-0.40), otolaryngology (ARR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.27-0.59), and psychiatry (ARR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.32-0.58). Among individuals with several specific common chronic conditions, LEP-EP disparities in visits to specialties in those conditions generally persisted. Disparities were larger for medical subspecialties (ARR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.36-0.46) and surgical specialties (ARR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.42-0.50) than for primary care (ARR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.79).

conclusionsPatients with LEP are underrepresented in most outpatient specialty practices, particularly medical subspecialties and surgical specialties. Our findings highlight the need to remove language barriers to physician services in order to ensure access to the full spectrum of outpatient specialty care for people with LEP.

Indexed as

Limited English ProficiencyPatient Acceptance of Health CareAdultAmbulatory CareCommunication BarriersHealth StatusHumansLanguageSpecializationaccessdisparitieslanguage barrierslimited English proficiencyspecialty care

Identifiers

PMID35349026
PMCPMC9708984
OpenAlexW4220975672

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.