Language Concordance as a Determinant of Patient Outcomes in a Pharmacist-Managed Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Clinic

Abstract

Background:

Published literature reveals that health care disparities exist due to race, gender, and language, although this has not been confirmed in a pharmacist-managed patient population.

Objective:

The objective of this study is to examine the association of language concordance and clinical outcomes in a comparison of English-speaking (ES) and Spanish-speaking (SS) patients in a pharmacist-managed cardiovascular risk reduction clinic (CVRRC).

Methods:

A retrospective chart review was undertaken to collect hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) for patients enrolled in the CVRRC from July 2010 and August 2012. A 2-sample t-test was utilized to compare these outcomes between ES and SS patients.

Results:

A total of 9 SS patients and 62 ES patients were included. No statistically significant differences were found between ES and SS patients in this language-concordant, pharmacist-managed clinic setting.

Conclusions:

These results suggest that similar clinical outcomes between ES and SS patients may be achieved with the ability of pharmacists to speak the same language as their patients.

Keywords

health care disparities pharmacist-managed clinic Spanish speaking

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