Assessment of disparities in timely diagnosis and comprehensive workup of cognitive impairment between English and Spanish speakers.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
; 32(7): 773-786, 2024 07.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38336573
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Previous studies have examined disparities in dementia care that affect the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population, including clinician bias, lack of cultural responsiveness, and less access to health care. However, there is limited research that specifically investigates the impact of language barriers to health disparities in dementia diagnosis.METHODS:
In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 12,080 English- or Spanish- speaking patients who received an initial diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia between July 2017 and June 2019 were identified in the Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) electronic medical record. To evaluate the timeliness of diagnosis, an initial diagnosis of MCI was classified as "timely", while an initial diagnosis of dementia was considered "delayed." Comprehensiveness of diagnosis was assessed by measuring the presence of laboratory studies, neuroimaging, specialist evaluation, and advanced diagnostics six months before or after diagnosis. Binomial logistic regressions were calculated with and without adjustment for age, legal sex, ethnicity, neighborhood disadvantage, and medical comorbidities.RESULTS:
Spanish speakers were less likely to receive a timely diagnosis when compared with English speakers both before (unadjusted OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.53-0.80, p <0.0001) and after adjusting for covariates (adjusted OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.40-0.75, p = 0.0001). Diagnostic services were provided equally between groups, except for referrals to geriatrics, which were more frequent among Spanish-speaking patients. A subgroup analysis revealed that Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino patients were less likely to receive a timely diagnosis compared to English-speaking Hispanic/Latino patients (adjusted OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.38-0.73, p = 0.0001).CONCLUSIONS:
Non-English language preference is likely to be a contributing factor to timely diagnosis of cognitive impairment. In this study, Spanish language preference rather than Hispanic/Latino ethnicity was a significant predictor of a less timely diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Policy changes are needed to reduce barriers in cognitive disorders care for Spanish-speaking patients.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Hispânico ou Latino
/
Disparidades em Assistência à Saúde
/
Disfunção Cognitiva
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
Assunto da revista:
GERIATRIA
/
PSIQUIATRIA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article