Talk what talk?

U.S. women who are not proficient in English may miss out on important health screening, according to findings from a multisite study of women making the transition to menopause. (1) In yearly study visits between 1997 and 2002, an average of 41-54% of women who spoke only English or who spoke English and another language equally well reported having undergone a Pap test, a clinical breast exam or a mammogram in the previous year; the proportions were 11-12% among those who spoke no English and 3% (for all three tests) among those who spoke another language more fluently than English. In analyses controlling for demographic, socioeconomic and health characteristics, women in the second and third groups were significantly less likely than the most proficient English speakers to have had a Pap test (odds ratios, 0.5-0.6); non-English speakers also had reduced odds of having had a breast exam (0.6). Language proficiency was not associated with women's likelihood of having undergone mammography. The investigators observe that "language barriers are not insurmountable" (as the finding regarding mammography suggests), and stress that "it is time to recognize the role that language barriers play in health disparities and to begin to equip health care providers with the ... resources they need to overcome these barriers."

(1.) Jacobs EA et al., Limited English proficiency and breast and cervical screening in a multiethnic population, American Journal of Public Health, 2005, 95(8): 1410-1416.