Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42015024›Full record

ArticleBMC primary care2026

Differences in experiences with episodic virtual care based on language of comfort for healthcare services in New Brunswick, Canada.

François Gallant, Éric Forgues, Julie Moffitt, M Ruth Lavergne

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC primary care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

4 authors.

François GallantDepartment of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. francois.gallant@dal.ca.
Éric ForguesInstitut canadien de recherche sur les minorités linguistiques, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB, Canada.
Julie MoffittVitalité Health Network, Moncton, NB, Canada.
M Ruth LavergneDepartment of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Funding

CIHR PJT-191772
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCommunication plays a central role in accessing healthcare, but few studies have investigated how language shapes the full continuum of access, from perceptions of the system to experiences of care. We sought to clarify how preferred language for healthcare services differentiates patterns of episodic virtual care (EVC) use and explored differences in experiences with EVC services based on the language of comfort of those who used eVisitNB in New Brunswick (NB), Canada.

methodsWe analyzed NB residents aged 18 years and older who reported using eVisitNB in the past year using an online survey from 12/2023 to 2/2025. The survey used complex branching to achieve specificity in the questions being asked and queried on various aspects of the process of healthcare access, from perceptions and care seeking through to experiences of service use. We analysed distributions of respondent characteristics and eVisitNB use using Chi-square tests, and we constructed multivariate logistic regressions to estimate associations between visit experience measures and official language of comfort for healthcare. We analyzed free-text responses when they pertained to language of care. We stratified all analyses by official language of comfort for healthcare.

results66.0% of respondents (n = 1,639; 68.0% female) reported their preferred language for healthcare services as English, 24.8% as French, and 9.2% as French or English. Regardless of preferred language, respondents rated perceptions and acceptable uses of eVisitNB similarly, and half reported that eVisitNB could meet their day-to-day health needs. In the past 12-months, participants who reported French as their language of comfort for health services reported the most frequent use. Respondents who prefer French were more likely to report that eVisitNB met their needs (Odds ratio, 95% Confidence interval: 2.00, 1.40–2.87), but this was challenged by free-text survey responses underscoring difficulty for French speakers to access a healthcare provider with a shared language.

conclusionsFindings suggest slight differences in eVisitNB experiences based on NB citizens official language of comfort for healthcare. However, paradoxical findings between quantitative and free-text responses highlight healthcare access inequities in language groups in NB, and underscore ongoing challenges in deploying healthcare technologies that are appropriate for citizens’ language of comfort for healthcare.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityLanguageTelemedicineAccess to Primary CareAdolescentAdultAgedDigital HealthFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNew BrunswickSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdulteHealthLanguage minorityLanguage preferenceTelehealthVirtual care

Identifiers

PMID42015024
PMCPMC13227830

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.