Assessing for differences in opioid administration during inpatient end-of-life care for patients with limited English proficiency.

BACKGROUND: Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) may have worse health outcomes and differences in processes of care. Language status may particularly affect situations that depend on communication, such as symptom management or end-of-life (EOL) care.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess whether opioid prescribing and administration differs by English proficiency (EP) status among hospitalized patients receiving EOL care.

METHODS: This single-center retrospective study identified all adult patients receiving "comfort care" on the general medicine service from January 2013 to September 2021. We assessed for differences in the quantity of opioids administered (measured by oral morphine equivalents [OME]) by patient LEP status using multivariable linear regression, controlling for other patient and medical factors.

RESULTS: We identified 2652 patients receiving comfort care at our institution during the time period, of whom 1813 (68%) died during the hospitalization. There were no significant differences by LEP status in terms of mean OME per day (LEP received 30.8 fewer OME compared to EP, p = .91) or in the final 24 h before discharge (LEP received 61.7 more OME compared to EP, p = .80).

CONCLUSION: LEP was not associated with differences in the amount of opioids received for patients whose EOL management involved standardized order sets for symptom management at our hospital.