Limited English Proficiency Not Linked to Sepsis Mortality Overall

FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Limited English proficiency (LEP) is not associated with overall sepsis mortality, but in a subgroup analysis, it was associated with mortality among those identifying as non-Hispanic White, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Neha P. Limaye, M.D., M.P.H., from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and colleagues examined the association between LEP and inpatient mortality among patients with sepsis in a retrospective cohort study. A total of 2,709 patients met the inclusion criteria; 12.1 percent had LEP.

The researchers found that unadjusted mortality included 19.6 and 21.1 percent of 2,382 and 327 patients with EP and LEP, respectively, with no significant difference seen in the odds of mortality (odds ratio, 1.12; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.42). Among the non-Hispanic White subgroup, however, the odds of inpatient mortality were significantly higher for patients with LEP (odds ratio, 1.76; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.41 to 2.21) when stratified by race and ethnicity. This difference was also significant in adjusted analyses (adjusted odds ratio, 1.56; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02 to 2.39). In the racial and ethnic-minority subgroup, no significant differences were found in inpatient mortality between LEP and EP (adjusted odds ratio, 0.91; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.56 to 1.48).

"The inequities found here may exist across other diagnoses as well," the authors write. "Most importantly, these findings call for targeted interventions to promote language equity, as the Institute of Medicine initially called for in 2004."

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text