Ethnicity, Language, and HIV Screening in Older Adult Safety-Net Patients.

INTRODUCTION: HIV screening should occur for all adults at least once by age 65 years. Older adults have low screening rates. Latinos, with historically low screening rates, have worse HIV outcomes than non-Hispanic White patients. Electronic health record data from a multistate network of community health centers were used to examine whether there are differences in HIV screening for Latino (English and Spanish preferring) and non-Hispanic White older adults. METHODS: Data were from the Accelerating Data Value Across a National Community Health Center Network Clinical Research Network of PCORnet from 21 states in 2012-2021 among an open cohort of patients aged 50-65 years. Relative odds of ever having received HIV screening comparing Latinos with non-Hispanic Whites using generalized estimating equation logistic regression modeling were calculated, adjusting for relevant patient-level covariates. Analyses were conducted in 2022. RESULTS: Among 251,645 patients, the covariate-adjusted odds of ever receiving HIV screening were 18% higher for English-preferring Latino patients (OR=1.18, 95% CI=1.11, 1.25) and 32% higher for Spanish-preferring Latinos than for non-Hispanic Whites (OR=1.32, 95% CI=1.24, 1.42). CONCLUSIONS: Latinos seen in community health centers, regardless of language spoken, are more likely to be screened at least once for HIV than non-Hispanic Whites. This increased screening may be due at least in part to the community health center setting, a setting known to mitigate disparities, as well as due to participation efforts by community health centers in public health campaigns. Future research can prioritize understanding the cause of this relative advantage.

Screening for Hepatitis C Among Community Health Center Patients by Ethnicity and Language Preference.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus is associated with high morbidity and mortality-chronic liver disease is a leading cause of death among Latinos in the U.S. Screening for hepatitis C virus in community health center settings, which serve a disproportionate percentage of Latinos, is essential to eradicating hepatitis C virus infection. We assessed hepatitis C virus screening disparities in adults served by community health centers by ethnicity and language preference. Methods: This was an observational cohort study (spanning 2013-2017) of adults born in 1945-1965 in the Accelerating Data Value Across a National Community Health Center Network electronic health record data set. Our exposure of interest was race/ethnicity and language preference (non-Hispanic White, Latino English preferred, Latino Spanish preferred). Our primary outcome was the relative hazard of hepatitis C virus screening, estimated using multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: A total of 182,002 patients met the study criteria and included 60% non-Hispanic Whites, 29% Latino Spanish preferred, and 11% Latino English preferred. In total, 9% received hepatitis C virus screening, and 2.4% were diagnosed with hepatitis C virus. Latino English-preferred patients had lower rates of screening than both non-Hispanic Whites and Latino Spanish preferred (5.5% vs 9.4% vs 9.6%, respectively). Latino English preferred had lower hazards of hepatitis C virus screening than non-Hispanic Whites (adjusted hazard ratio=0.56, 95% CI=0.44, 0.72), and Latino Spanish preferred had similar hazards of hepatitis C virus screening (adjusted hazard ratio=1.11, 95% CI=0.88, 1.41). Conclusions: We found that in a large community health center network, adult Latinos who preferred English had lower hazards of hepatitis C virus screening than non-Hispanic Whites, whereas Latinos who preferred Spanish had hazards of screening similar to those of non-Hispanic Whites. The overall prevalence of hepatitis C virus screening was low. Further work on the role of language preference in hepatitis C virus screening is needed to better equip primary care providers to provide this recommended preventive service in culturally relevant ways.

Smoking-Cessation Assistance Among Older Adults by Ethnicity/Language Preference.

INTRODUCTION: Although smoking prevalence is lower among Hispanic adults than among non-Hispanic White adults, smoking remains a leading cause of preventable death among older Hispanics. This study examines the differences in tobacco assessment and smoking-cessation assistance among older patients seen in community health centers by ethnicity and language preference. METHODS: Electronic health record data were extracted from the Accelerating Data Value Across a National Community Health Center Network of community health centers from patients aged 55‒80 years with ≥1 primary care visit between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018. Binary outcomes included tobacco use assessment and, among those with ≥1 status indicating current smoking, having a smoking-cessation medication ordered. The independent variable combined ethnicity and language preference, categorized as non-Hispanic White (reference), Spanish-preferring Hispanic, and English-preferring Hispanic. Multivariable generalized estimating equation logistic regressions, clustering by primary care clinic using an exchangeable working correlation structure, modeled the odds of tobacco use assessment and cessation medication orders by ethnicity/preferred language, adjusting for patient covariates, health system, and clinic location. Analyses were conducted in 2021. RESULTS: The study included 116,328 patients. Spanish-preferring Hispanic patients had significantly lower odds of having tobacco use assessed than non-Hispanic White patients (AOR=0.89, 95% CI=0.82, 0.95). Both Spanish- and English-preferring Hispanic patients had lower odds of having a smoking-cessation medication ordered (AOR=0.53, 95% CI=0.47, 0.60; AOR=0.77, 95% CI=0.67, 0.89, respectively) than non-Hispanic White patients. CONCLUSIONS: Significant disparities were found in tobacco assessment and cessation assistance by ethnicity and language preference among older adults seen in safety-net clinics. Future research is needed to understand the etiology of these smoking-related disparities.