Quality of Care for Latinx Children with Asthma: Associations with Language Concordance and Continuity of Care

Methods: We utilized an electronic health record dataset from a multistate network of community health centers to compare influenza vaccinations and inhaled steroid prescriptions, by ethnicity and language concordance groups overall and stratified by COC. Results: We analyzed electronic health records for children with asthma (n = 38,442) age 3 to 17 years with ≥2 office visits between 2005 to 2017. Overall, 64% of children had low COC (defined as COC < 0.5) while 21% had high COC (defined as >0.75). All Latinx children had higher rates and odds of receiving influenza vaccination compared with non-Hispanic White children. In addition, Spanishpreferring Latinx children had higher rates and odds of being prescribed inhaled steroids while English-preferring Latinx children had lower odds (OR = 0.85 95%CI = 0.73,0.98) compared with nonHispanic White children. Conclusion: Overall, Latinx children regardless of COC category or language concordance were more likely to receive the influenza vaccine. English-preferring Latinx children with persistent asthma received fewer inhaled steroid prescriptions compared with non-Hispanic White children. Panel chart review and seeing a practice partner might be one way to combat these inequities. ( J Am Board Fam Med 2023;36:616–625.)

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