AB001. Disparities in healthcare: Spanish-speakers at a pediatric clinic in Houston, Texas
Abstract

AB001. Disparities in healthcare: Spanish-speakers at a pediatric clinic in Houston, Texas

Xiomara Hinojosa Barrera, María del Pilar González Amarante

School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico

Correspondence to: Xiomara Hinojosa Barrera, MD. School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Av. Ignacio Morones Prieto 3000, Sertoma, 64710, Monterrey, Mexico. Email: xiomarahinojosabarrera@gmail.com.

Background: In Houston, Texas, half of Latinos are considered to experience “Limited English proficiency” (LEP). Due to this and other barriers imposed by the US healthcare system, Hispanics are at disadvantage and children represent an even more vulnerable group. The purpose of this study is to explore possible barriers related to access, language and communication in terms of standard of care.

Methods: For this hybrid study, data was collected through participant observation (assistant consultant in a pediatric outpatient clinic). The sample (N=157) was constructed observing the first six visits daily for a month with the same provider. The duration, reason of consultation, interaction and number of questions were registered and correlated with ethnicity using RS Studio Software, fieldnotes were also qualitative codified to induce insights.

Results: The total sample identified 45% of patients as Latino (indirect classification). Among this subgroup, 13% struggled with LEP. The nine cases were women, representing 5.73% of the total population. Even though the clinic had access to interpreters, their service was never requested by either physician or patients. There were no statistically significant correlations considering time and ethnicity, however, the average consultation time was 4:53 minutes which poses questions to the quality of service and a particular risk for satisfactory communication in LEP patients. Latino children were less frequently given analgesics after vaccination which hints a differentiated standard of care.

Conclusions: Limited consultation time is a major concern that may impede quality of care and worsen barriers with multicultural patients. While addressing structural aspects, health professionals should adhere to the Civil Rights Act and patients should be better informed and empowered to demand translation services. Other research approaches that blend the patient’s and physician’s experience can help inform the complex interactions that may arise and prevent disparities in healthcare provision.

Keywords: Language barriers; disparity; quality of care

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Emilia Nicole Armijos Asimbaya for the assistance with the RStudio software.

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jphe.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jphe-2023-apru-ab001/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013). This study was purely observational; hence no intervention was made. No personal information was gathered, respecting patient confidentiality thus the Institutional Review Board approval is waived.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the noncommercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/jphe-2023-apru-ab001
Cite this abstract as: Hinojosa Barrera X, González Amarante MDP. AB001. Disparities in healthcare: Spanish-speakers at a pediatric clinic in Houston, Texas. J Public Health Emerg 2024;8:AB001.

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