Abstract TP283: Association Between Spanish Language and Emergency Medical Service Use in Ischemic Stroke Patients Treated with IV-tPA

Abstract

Introduction: Use of emergency medical services (EMS) is associated with decreased door-to-needle time in acute ischemic stroke. While racial and ethnic disparities in EMS use are well documented, the role of patient language in EMS use has been understudied. We sought to characterize EMS use by patient language among IV-tPA treated patients at a single center with a large Spanish-speaking patient population. Methods: We identified all patients who received IV-tPA over five years (7/2011-6/2016) at an academic medical center in New York City. Primary language, EMS use, pre-notification, and patient demographics were recorded from the EMR. We compared baseline characteristics, EMS use, and stroke pre-notification between English and Spanish-speaking patients. Logistic regression was used to measure the association between primary patient language and EMS use, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Over the study period, 391 patients received IV-tPA; 208 (53%) primarily spoke English and 174 (45%) primarily spoke Spanish. Nine patients (2%) spoke other languages and were excluded. Mean age (66 vs. 69, p=0.09), male sex (43% vs. 33%, p=0.05) and median NIHSS (7 vs. 6, p=0.12) did not differ between English and Spanish-speaking patients. Of the 380 (97%) patients with EMS data, EMS use was higher among Spanish-speaking patients (69% vs. 80%, p<0.01). Pre-notification did not differ by language (63% vs. 61%, p=0.8). In a multivariable model adjusting for age, sex, and initial NIHSS, Spanish speakers remained more likely to use EMS (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.2, p=0.02). Conclusion: Among patients treated with IV-tPA at an urban academic medical center, EMS usage was higher in Spanish-speakers compared to English-speakers. Although language is not an exact surrogate for ethnicity, these findings are in contrast to previously published work demonstrating low rates of EMS usage among Hispanics. Future studies should evaluate differences in EMS utilization according to primary language as well as ethnicity.