TABLE 1.
Patient Demographics and Clinical Characteristics Within Observed Discharge Encounters
| Characteristic | Overall (n = 140) | EP (n = 72) | LEP (n = 68) | Pa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient demographics | ||||
| Male sex, n (%) | 83 (59) | 40 (56) | 43 (63) | .392 |
| Age, median (IQR), y | 3.5 (0.4–10.2) | 4.1 (0.3–12.6) | 2.6 (0.7–8.4) | .591 |
| Race, n (%) | <.001 | |||
| White | 65 (46) | 54 (75) | 11 (16) | — |
| Black or African American | 19 (14) | 15 (21) | 4 (6) | — |
| Otherb | 56 (40) | 3 (4) | 53 (78) | — |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | <.001 | |||
| Hispanic | 49 (35) | 1 (1) | 48 (71) | — |
| Non-Hispanic | 90 (64) | 70 (97) | 20 (29) | — |
| Unknown | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | — |
| Primary insurance, n (%) | <.001 | |||
| Public | 91 (65) | 36 (56) | 30 (75) | — |
| Private | 36 (30) | 27 (42) | 4 (10) | — |
| International | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | — |
| Other or unknown | 12 (9) | 2 (3) | 10 (15) | — |
| Patient clinical characteristics, n (%) | ||||
| Primary diagnosis type | .084 | |||
| Infectious and parasitic | 5 (4) | 3 (4) | 2 (3) | — |
| Endocrine and immunity | 9 (6) | 6 (8) | 3 (4) | — |
| Blood | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | — |
| Mental | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | — |
| Nervous system | 8 (6) | 3 (4) | 5 (7) | — |
| Circulatory | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | — |
| Respiratory | 43 (31) | 21 (29) | 22 (32) | — |
| Digestive | 17 (12) | 4 (6) | 13 (19) | — |
| Genitourinary | 9 (6) | 4 (6) | 5 (7) | — |
| Skin and subcutaneous | 11 (8) | 9 (13) | 2 (3) | — |
| Musculoskeletal and connective | 6 (4) | 4 (6) | 2 (3) | — |
| Congenital anomalies | 2 (1) | 0 (0) | 2 (3) | — |
| Perinatal | 12 (9) | 9 (13) | 3 (4) | — |
| Injury and poisoning | 9 (6) | 3 (4) | 6 (9) | — |
| Others | 6 (4) | 3 (4) | 3 (4) | — |
| Length of stay, median (IQR), h | 42 (29–68) | 42 (32–57) | 4 7(28–78) | .381 |
| Discharge encounter characteristics, n (%) | ||||
| Family members presentc | .217 | |||
| Primary female parent only | 55 (39) | 32 (44) | 23 (34) | — |
| Primary male parent only | 15 (11) | 9 (13) | 6 (9) | — |
| No caregiver present | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | — |
| Multiple people present | 69 (49) | 30 (42) | 39 (57) | — |
| Encounter languages (patient and family) | <.001 | |||
| English onlyd | 72 (51) | 70 (97) | 2 (3) | — |
| Spanish | 48 (34) | 0 (0) | 48 (71) | — |
| Other languagese | 20 (14) | 2 (3) | 18 (27) | — |
| Campus | .028 | |||
| Main | 107 (76) | 61 (85) | 46 (68) | — |
| Satellitef | 33 (24) | 11 (15) | 22 (32) | — |
| Encounter duration, median (IQR), min | 9 (7–13) | 8 (5–11) | 11 (9–16) | <.001 |
—, not applicable.
P values are from χ2 or Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank test for continuous variables.
Included Middle Eastern, Asian American, Hispanic, and unknown as denoted in the EHR.
The primary female parent includes biological mom, grandmother, or other primary female legal guardians or caregivers; the primary male parent includes biological dad, grandfather, or other primary male legal guardians or caregivers.
In 2 LEP encounters, only English was used despite the presence of an LEP family member or existing nursing concern about limited comprehension due to language barrier.
Included Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, French, Nepali, Burmese and/or Hakha Chin, and German; 2 EP families were fluent in multiple languages as hence categorized under “other languages.”
Most physicians work at both the main and satellite campuses; the nurses typically work only at 1 campus. None of the nurses observed in either campuses were certified bilingual providers (certified by language access services to communicate with families without the use of a professional interpreter).