Associations Between Patients' Primary Spoken Language and Perioperative Outcomes After Hip Fracture

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Health Services Research
• Linguistics in Medicine

Background:

• Patient's primary spoken language (PSL) is an emerging factor influencing perioperative outcomes.
• Hip fracture management involves significant perioperative considerations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between patients' primary spoken language (PSL) and hip fracture perioperative outcomes.
• To analyze the impact of PSL on hospital length of stay (LOS), mortality, discharge disposition, and readmissions.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of hip fracture patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) or arthroplasty.
• 1:3 matching of non-English PSL patients with English PSL patients based on key demographic and clinical factors.
• Generalized linear models used to assess associations between PSL and outcomes, adjusting for comorbidities.

Main Results:

• In the ORIF cohort, non-English PSL was associated with a longer LOS (0.95 days) and less frequent nonhome discharge.
• In the arthroplasty cohort, non-English PSL was associated with a shorter LOS (1.04 days).
• No significant associations were found between PSL and in-hospital mortality, 30-day ED visits, 90-day readmissions, or 90-day complications.

Conclusions:

• Language-based disparities exist in perioperative outcomes for hip fracture surgery.
• Further research is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms and clinical significance of these language-associated differences.