Prehospital Care Research Forum Abstracts 2022

patient language on pain management remains unknown. This study investigates the relationship between limited English proficiency (LEP) and pain treatment for prehospital trauma patients and examines the effects language interpretation may have on pain treatment. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective study using a private dataset that included all prehospital adult trauma patients from 2015 to 2021 at a single urban/suburban EMS agency in Portland, Oregon. Patient language, numeric pain scores, pain medication use, interpreter status, demographic, and clinical covariates were extracted from the EMS patient care records. We used adjusted multivariable logistic regressions to compare pain assessment and pain medication administration between LEP and English-proficient patients while also exploring race and gender variations. Results: During the timeframe studied 57,693 English speaking patients and 1155 LEP patients were examined by EMS clinicians. In multivariable models adjusted for demographic and clinical characteristics, LEP patients were less likely to receive pain assessments (aOR 0.37, P < 0.001), and less likely to receive any pain medications (aOR 0.77, P < 0.01) when compared to English-speaking patients. Further, patients with LEP received qualified medical interpreters only 3% of the time and any form of interpreter 48% of the time. Finally, the use of a language interpreter was associated with marginally improved likelihood of receiving a pain assessment, but may have elimi-nated pain medication treatment disparities for patients with LEP; however, these advantages did not equally benefit all race/ethnicity categories.