Language of Caregiver and Pediatric Day-of-Surgery Cancellations.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship between language used by a caregiver and day-of-surgery cancellations, and to distinguish whether neighborhood opportunity influences this relationship.

Study design: We performed a retrospective study of 173,533 children <18 years of age at a single institution who were scheduled for ambulatory surgery from 2017 through 2022. We estimated the odds of day-of-surgery cancellation by caregiver language, stratifying by neighborhood opportunity. We then determined the relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) of LOE with neighborhood opportunity.

Results: Day-of-surgery cancellation occurred in 3.7% and 5.2% of children with caregivers using English and LOE, respectively (p<0.001). Children from disadvantaged neighborhoods with caregivers using English had 23% lower odds of cancellation than those using LOE for care (OR 0.77, 95%CI 0.71-0.85; p<0.001). Children from advantaged neighborhoods with caregivers using English had 38% lower odds of cancellation than those using LOE for care (OR 0.62, 95%CI 0.52-0.72; P<0.001). The interaction between language and neighborhood advantage was not significant, indicating that neighborhood advantage does not appear to buffer those using LOE from cancellations (RERI: -0.06, 95%CI -0.21-0.08; p=0.40).

Conclusions: Children with caregivers using LOE for care experience higher odds of day-of-surgery cancellation than children with caregivers using English, regardless of neighborhood opportunity. Decreasing language barriers is key to equitable surgery access.