Parent Comfort with English Is Associated with Adverse Events in Hospitalized Children

Communication errors are regularly cited as a contributing factor when medical errors occur. In a prospective cohort study, researchers investigated whether parental limited comfort with English (LCE) was associated with a higher risk for adverse medical events among hospitalized children.

Between 2014 and 2017, researchers collected LCE and adverse event data from Arabic-, Chinese-, English-, or Spanish-speaking parents of inpatient pediatric patients in seven hospitals in North America. LCE was defined by parent self-report of a language other than English as their preference for communicating with the medical team. Adverse events (e.g., serious allergic reaction to a medication) were abstracted from medical charts and then reviewed and co…