IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i17p6306-d406091.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Medical Characteristics of Foreign Language Patients in Paramedic Care

Author

Listed:
  • Frank Müller

    (Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany)

  • Eva Hummers

    (Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany)

  • Eva Maria Noack

    (Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany)

Abstract

Background: In this study, medical and socio-demographic characteristics of foreign language patients in prehospital emergency medical care are analyzed and compared with non-foreign language patients. Methods: We performed retrospective chart review of rescue operations in four emergency medical service stations in Northern Germany over seven months as part of the DICTUM Rescue study (DRKS00016719). We performed descriptive analyses including test statistics and used partial correlation to adjust for patients’ sex and age. Results: Patients with limited German proficiency were served in 2.2% of all 7494 covered rescue operations. On average, these patients were two decades younger than their German speaking counterparts. There were significantly more patients with limited German proficiency with gynecological and obstetric problems, especially births, as well as psychiatric disorders, especially suicide attempts. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the existing preventive programs for pregnant women and people at risk of suicide do not sufficiently reach patients with limited German proficiency. Additionally, giving birth and psychiatric breakdowns are exceptional and sensitive situations, both for patients and the paramedic staff, where the ability to communicate safely appears to be of enormous importance to enable safe treatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Müller & Eva Hummers & Eva Maria Noack, 2020. "Medical Characteristics of Foreign Language Patients in Paramedic Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-9, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:17:p:6306-:d:406091
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6306/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6306/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christian Dopfer & Annabelle Vakilzadeh & Christine Happle & Evelyn Kleinert & Frank Müller & Diana Ernst & Reinhold E. Schmidt & Georg M. N. Behrens & Sonja Merkesdal & Martin Wetzke & Alexandra Jabl, 2018. "Pregnancy Related Health Care Needs in Refugees—A Current Three Center Experience in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-13, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Osnat Keidar & David S. Srivastava & Emmanouil Pikoulis & Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos, 2019. "Health of Refugees and Migrants—Where Do We Stand and What Directions Should We Take?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-8, April.
    2. Frank Müller & Eva Hummers & Nele Hillermann & Christian Dopfer & Alexandra Jablonka & Tim Friede & Anne Simmenroth & Martin Wetzke, 2020. "Factors Influencing the Frequency of Airway Infections in Underage Refugees: A Retrospective, Cross Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-9, September.
    3. Martin Wetzke & Christine Happle & Annabelle Vakilzadeh & Diana Ernst & Georgios Sogkas & Reinhold E. Schmidt & Georg M. N. Behrens & Christian Dopfer & Alexandra Jablonka, 2018. "Healthcare Utilization in a Large Cohort of Asylum Seekers Entering Western Europe in 2015," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-9, October.
    4. Esperanza López-Domene & José Granero-Molina & Cayetano Fernández-Sola & José Manuel Hernández-Padilla & María del Mar López-Rodríguez & Isabel María Fernández-Medina & Maria Dolores Guerra-Martín & M, 2019. "Emergency Care for Women Irregular Migrants Who Arrive in Spain by Small Boat: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Sukhjeet Bains & Johanne Sundby & Benedikte V. Lindskog & Siri Vangen & Ingvil K. Sørbye, 2021. "Newly Arrived Migrant Women’s Experience of Maternity Health Information: A Face-to-Face Questionnaire Study in Norway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-12, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:17:p:6306-:d:406091. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.