Hospital Infections & Spanish Speakers: Risk Factors
Spanish-speaking patients face substantially higher risks of hospital-acquired infections, a concerning trend revealed in a recent study. Data indicates that these individuals are more than twice as likely to experience catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) and have an 80% increased risk for central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). Language barriers may be a important contributor to these alarming disparities. News Directory 3 analyzes the findings from Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern california, exploring the impact of language on patient outcomes and highlighting the need for tailored mitigation strategies. Discover what’s next as institutions work to address these crucial health inequalities.
Study: Spanish Speakers Face Higher Hospital Infection Risk
Spanish-speaking patients are at a considerably elevated risk of contracting hospital-acquired infections, according to research presented at the Association for Professionals in Infection control and Epidemiology (APIC) 2025 conference. cristine Lacerna, RN, DNP, MPH, FAPIC, CIC, of Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, and colleagues found that language barriers may contribute to these disparities.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that about one in five people in the United States speak a language other than English. Previous research has linked limited English proficiency to increased in-hospital mortality, especially among patients with sepsis.
Researchers analyzed data from 6,813 publicly reported infections across 21 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California from 2019 to 2023. The data included 631 CAUTIs, 661 CLABSIs, 3,966 surgical site infections, 1,331 Clostridioides difficile infections, 165 MRSA infections, and 59 vancomycin-resistant enterococci infections (VRE).
The team conducted a multivariate regression analysis using demographic data such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, financial class, neighborhood deprivation index, social vulnerability index, interpreter needs, and preferred spoken language to determine odds ratios for infections.
The analysis revealed that Spanish-speaking patients had more than double the odds of experiencing a CAUTI (OR = 2.08; P < .0001). They also faced an 80% higher risk for CLABSI (OR = 1.8; P = .0003), a 26% higher risk for general surgery SSI among adults (OR = 1.26; P = .018), and a 27% higher risk for general surgery SSI among children (OR = 1.27; P = .0126).
“When a patient enters the institution and you recognize that there may be economic, social or cultural barriers like language, that awareness needs to be up front,” Lacerna told Healio. “We think communication is probably key.”
What’s next
Lacerna recommends that institutions assess their own data to develop tailored mitigation strategies for their communities and share these strategies with others.