Hispanic LEP patients' perceptions of physicians' interpersonal communication habits as mediators of medical test delays

Abstract

Patients with LEP status (LEP) often face barriers to healthcare that occur; as a result, reduced rates of health insurance and other social determinants of health barriers related to socioeconomic status (Gulati and Hur 2021). This study aims to assess the effects of LEP status on reports of medical test delays. Additionally, this study uses a two-step approach to identify how interpersonal communication mediates the effects of LEP status and medical test delays. This study also aims to understand this relationship from the perspective of Hispanic LEP patients with diabetes. This study contributes to the literature by isolating the mechanisms of interpersonal communication that can lead to delays in medical care for Diabetic Hispanic LEP (DHLEP) populations. The analysis uses a sample (n=309) from the Developing the PROMIS-Preference Score for Monitoring Population Health Outcomes, United States (Hanmer 2017). ☐ The sample was specified only to include patients who reported being diagnosed with diabetes. The analysis method includes using an inverse odds ratio weighted mediation that assesses the causal effects of linguistic preference on medical tests mediated by perceived interpersonal communication. ☐ The initial results indicate that DHLEP patients' perceptions of factors related to interpersonal communication mediate at least 40% of the relationship between LEP status and medical test delays. Future research should assess if interpersonal communication mediates this relationship for other (e.g., patients who speak a language other than Spanish) LEP patient populations.