Strategies Used by Prehospital Providers to Overcome Language Barriers.

Objective: Language barriers are commonly encountered in the prehospital setting but there is a paucity of research on how prehospital providers address language discordance. We sought to identify the communication strategies, and the limitations of those strategies, used by emergency medical services (EMS) providers when confronted with language barriers in a variety of linguistic and cultural contexts.

Methods: EMS providers were queried regarding communication strategies to overcome language barriers as part of an international, multi-site, sequential explanatory, qualitative-predominant, mixed methods study of prehospital language barriers.

The Need for More Prehospital Research on Language Barriers: A Narrative Review.

Introduction: Despite evidence from other healthcare settings that language barriers negatively impact patient outcomes, the literature on language barriers in emergency medical services (EMS) has not been previously summarized. The objective of this study is to systematically review existing studies of the impact of language barriers on prehospital emergency care and identify opportunities for future research.

Methods: A systematic review with narrative synthesis of publications with populations specific to the prehospital setting and outcome measures specific to language barriers was conducted.

Triage in the Tower of Babel: interpreter services for children in the prehospital setting.

Minority pediatric populations have higher rates of emergency medical services use than the general pediatric population, and prior studies have documented that limited-English proficiency patients are more likely to undergo invasive procedures, require more resources, and be admitted once they arrive in the emergency department. Furthermore, limited-English proficiency patients may be particularly vulnerable because of immigration or political concerns. In this case report, we describe an infant with breath-holding spells for whom a language barrier in the prehospital setting resulted in an escalation of care to the highest level of trauma team activation.

Primary care physicians who treat blacks and whites.

Background: In the United States, black patients generally receive lower-quality health care than white patients. Black patients may receive their care from a subgroup of physicians whose qualifications or resources are inferior to those of the physicians who treat white patients.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 150,391 visits by black Medicare beneficiaries and white Medicare beneficiaries 65 years of age or older for medical "evaluation and management" who were seen by 4355 primary care physicians who participated in a biannual telephone survey, the 2000-2001 Community Tracking Study Physician Survey.

Variations in lung cancer risk among smokers.

Background: Although there is no proven benefit associated with screening for lung cancer, screening programs are attracting many individuals who perceive themselves to be at high risk due to smoking. We sought to determine whether the risk of lung cancer varies predictably among smokers.

Methods: We used data on 18 172 subjects enrolled in the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET)-a large, randomized trial of lung cancer prevention-to derive a lung cancer risk prediction model.

Screening for lung cancer: a review of the current literature.

Study Objectives: To review the available data on the early detection of lung cancer, with a focus on three technologies: chest x-ray (CXR), sputum cytology, and low-dose CT (LDCT) scanning.

Design, Setting, Participants: Review of published clinical studies of early detection technologies. The best available evidence on each topic was selected for analysis.