Language affects length of stay in emergency departments in Queensland public hospitals

Patient characteristics associated with longer emergency department stay: a rapid review

“…Several American studies included race/ethnicity; some found longer LOS among patients who were black,27 19 Hispanic,17 19 Asian,38 or non-Caucasian in general,8 while others found no effect 16 34. Two studies suggested that language barriers could increase ED LOS;17 23 one found no effect 37. One study found that frequent users had shorter ED LOS; this was a function of their lower acuity (within each CTAS category, frequent and infrequent users did not differ in LOS) 4.…”

Acute Psychiatric Problems among Migrants Living in Switzerland- a Retrospective Study from a Swiss University Emergency Department

“…This problem is probably underestimated. Many studies indicate that language barriers are associated with longer visit time per clinic visit, less frequent clinic visits, less understanding of the physician's explanation, more laboratory tests, more emergency room visits, and less follow-up, possibly leading to high rates of relapse [15,28,29].…”

Satisfaction with emergency department service among non‐English‐speaking background patients

“…It might result in prolonged length of stay and increased wait times in EDs, which together reduce the quality of the care provided, leading to an increased probability of complications for urgent conditions . All of these factors might lead to decreased patient satisfaction and an increase in the number of patients who leave the ED before being seen . Thus, further investigations are warranted to determine whether there are barriers that prevent NESB patients from accessing primary care in Australia.…”