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Table 1 Patient characteristics by English proficiency, n (%) for categorical variables and mean (standard deviation) for continuous variables

From: Examination of social determinants of health among patients with limited English proficiency

 

All (n = 92,958)

English proficient (n = 83,445)

Limited English proficiency

All (n = 9513)a

Spanish (n = 4425)b

Age, years

65.2 (18.3)

64.8 (18.3)

69.0 (17.2)

63.8 (18.9)

Gender

 Female

49,211 (52.9%)

43,767 (52.5%)

5444 (57.2%)

2544 (57.5%)

 Male

43,747 (47.1%)

39,678 (47.6%)

4069 (42.8%)

1881 (42.5%)

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic

50,692 (54.5%)

48,917 (58.6%)

1775 (18.7%)

122 (2.8%)

 Black, non-Hispanic

15,130 (16.3%)

14,753 (17.7%)

377 (4.0%)

14 (0.3%)

 Hispanic

11,156 (12.0%)

7274 (8.7%)

3882 (40.8%)

3838 (86.7%)

 Asian

6327 (6.8%)

4428 (5.3%)

1899 (20.0%)

6 (0.1%)

 Native American/Alaskan

477 (0.5%)

368 (0,.4%)

109 (1.2%)

2 (0.05%)

 Other/multiracial

6494 (7.0%)

5392 (6.5%)

1102 (11.6%)

355 (8.0%)

 Unknown/decline

2682 (2.9%)

2313 (2.8%)

369 (3.9%)

88 (2.0%)

Health insurance

 Commercial

29,065 (31.3%)

27,533 (33.0%)

1532 (16.1%)

931 (21.0%)

 Medicare

36,176 (38.9%)

32,194 (38.6%)

3982 (41.9%)

1649 (37.3%)

 Medicaid

11,215 (12.1%)

8665 (10.4%)

2550 (26.8%)

1334 (30.2%)

 Self-pay

735 (0.8%)

588 (0.7%)

147 (1.6%)

112 (2.5%)

 Unknown

15,767 (17.0%)

14,465 (17.3%)

1302 (13.7%)

399 (9.0%)

Patient-reported social needs

 Material need

459/92,842 (0.5%)

391/83,348 (0.5%)

68/9494 (0.7%)

49/4417 (1.1%)

 Employment

623/92,781 (0.7%)

528/83,291 (0.6%)

95/9490 (1.0%)

88/4414 (2.0%)

 Medical legal assistance

390/92,764 (0.4%)

325/83,281 (0.4%)

65/9483 (0.7%)

53/4414 (1.2%)

 Health insurance

1587/91,188 (1.7%)

1262/83,285 (1.5%)

325/9490 (3.4%)

246/4417 (5.6%)

 Public benefit

1630/92,806 (1.8%)

1391/83,312 (1.7%)

239/9494 (2.5%)

169/4416 (3.8%)

 Health literacy

1122/92,769 (1.2%)

765/83,284 (0.9%)

357/9485 (3.8%)

220/4415 (5.0%)

 Public transportation

1382/92,782 (1.5%)

1225/83,291 (1.5%)

157/9491 (1.7%)

110/4413 (2.5%)

 Medical care

788/92,784 (0.9%)

687/83,292 (0.8%)

101/9492 (1.1%)

80/4415 (1.8%)

 Utility bill

1939/92,797 (2.1%)

1709/83,304 (2.1%)

230/9493 (2.4%)

182/4416 (4.1%)

 Poor housing quality

628/92,872 (0.7%)

588/83,370 (0.7%)

40/9502 (0.4%)

30/4420 (0.7%)

 Food insecurity

1018/92,850 (1.1%)

879/83,354 (1.1%)

139/9496 (1.5%)

114/4417 (2.6%)

 Housing insecurity

1205/92,902 (1.3%)

1080/83,395 (1.3%)

125/9507 (1.3%)

100/4423 (2.3%)

  1. aChi-square test of similarity comparing patients with English proficiency versus patients with limited English proficiency were all less than 0.001, except public transportation and housing insecurity
  2. bChi-square test of similarity comparing Spanish speaking patients versus non-Spanish speaking patients were all less than 0.001