The Influence of Language Discordance Between Patient and Physician on Time-to-Thrombolysis in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background and purpose: Reducing door-to-imaging (DIT) time is a major focus of acute stroke quality improvement initiatives to promote rapid thrombolysis. However, recent data suggest that the imaging-to-needle (ITN) time is a greater source of treatment delay. We hypothesized that language discordance between physician and patient would contribute to prolonged ITN time, as rapidly taking a history and confirming last known well require facile communication between physician and patient. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of all patients who received tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in our emergency department between July 2011 and December 2014. Baseline characteristics and relevant time intervals were compared between encounters where the treating neurologist and patient spoke the same language (concordant cases) and where they did not (discordant cases). Results: A total of 279 patients received tPA during the study period. English was the primary language for 51%, Spanish for 46%, and other languages for 3%; 59% of cases were classified as language concordant and 41% as discordant. We found no differences in median DIT (24 vs 25, P = .5), ITN time (33 vs 30, P = .3), or door-to-needle time (DTN; 58 vs 55, P = .1) between concordant and discordant groups. Similarly, among patients with the fastest and slowest ITN times, there were no differences. Conclusion: In a high-volume stroke center with a large proportion of Spanish speakers, language discordance was not associated with changes in DIT, ITN time, or DTN time.