ArticleNeurology. Clinical practice2025
Disparate Use of Diagnostic Modalities for Patients With Limited English Proficiency and Neurologic Disorders.
Article in Neurology. Clinical practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Access to Care and Self-Rated Health Status: Comparison of Rural and Urban Immigrants in the US.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Article
- Health disparities in neurology.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Limited English proficiency (LEP) impairs health access-including outpatient specialty care-and quality care, i.e., inappropriate use of diagnostic tests. At least in some cases, studies have suggested that clinicians may substitute testing for time-consuming clinical evaluation involving medical interpreters. This study (1) examines disparities in receipt of diagnostic testing among patients with LEP and neurologic illness, in both the ambulatory and emergency department (ED) settings, including (2) whether better patient-provider communication is associated with reduced testing disparities and (3) how testing disparities vary according to insurance. Methods: We analyzed nationally representative data from the 2003-2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and identified adults with neurologic illness using diagnostic codes. To assess the association between LEP status and diagnostic testing (CT/MRI, laboratory tests, and any diagnostic tests), we estimated logistic regression models that included year-fixed effects. We constructed separate models for ambulatory and ED settings, including models with a patient-provider communication measure to see how that influenced the LEP-diagnostic testing association. Finally, we conducted stratified analyses by sources of health insurance. Results: LEP status was associated with greater receipt of laboratory tests (OR = 1.46, Discussion: In this nationwide study of patients with neurologic illness, we observed both greater and less use of diagnostic tests for patients with LEP and neurologic illness. The greater use of laboratory tests may reflect the overuse of easily obtainable tests for patients with LEP. Conversely, the less use of CT/MRI may be due to time and transportation challenges in scheduling follow-up visits, alongside other barriers to patient follow-up. The population of patients with LEP is growing, making it critical to study not only disparities in their care but also nuances and determinants of these disparities beyond patient-provider communication and across clinical settings.
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Registered trials
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.