Disparities in Pediatric Emergency Department Length of Stay and Utilization Associated With Primary Language

Objective The aim of the study was to investigate the association between primary language and length of stay (LOS) in the pediatric emergency department (ED) within the context of known disparities impacting healthcare experiences and outcomes for patients with language barriers. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of consecutive encounters of patients presenting to, and discharged from, an urban pediatric ED from May 2015 through April 2018. Encounters were grouped into English primary language (EPL), Spanish (SPL), and other (OPL). Mean LOS comparisons were stratified by Emergency Severity Index (ESI). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the relationship between LOS and variables, including age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance, and time of presentation. Results A total of 139,163 encounters were included. A higher proportion of SPL and OPL encounters were characterized as lower ESI acuity compared with EPL. Significantly longer LOS for SPL and OPL encounters was observed in the 2 lower acuity strata. The ESI 4–5 stratum demonstrated the greatest LOS disparity between EPL, SPL, and OPL (94 vs 103 vs 103 minutes, respectively, P
Source: Pediatric Emergency Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research