1. The Use of Non-Person-First Language in Consecutive General Ophthalmology Referrals.
- Author
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Leong R, Vosoughi A, Sivakumar G, and Micieli JA
- Subjects
- Humans, Male, Retrospective Studies, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Middle Aged, Aged, Adult, Language, Communication Barriers, Referral and Consultation, Ophthalmology statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of non-person-first language (PFL) in consecutive general ophthalmology referrals to a single tertiary ophthalmology clinic., Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study., Methods: Participants included Ophthalmology patients seen for their initial visit to a single tertiary ophthalmology clinic from July 2018 to December 2022. Ten randomly selected referrals from each day were screened for non-PFL as per the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association guidelines. Non-PFL was further categorized into general, diabetes, stigma, obesity, or ageism subcategories. The Chi-square test was used to evaluate associations between non-PFL use and referring provider gender and specialty, length of referral, and patient age and gender., Results: A total of 2625 referrals were included in the study and 136 (5.2%) used non-PFL, such as referring to a person with diabetes as a "diabetic". Error types included Diabetes (38.2%), Stigma (30.9%), General (23.5%), Disability (8.8%), and Obesity (4.4%). Year of referral was predictive of non-PFL (P = .0016), with most occurring in 2020 (9.5%). Non-PFL was significantly more likely to occur in long length referrals compared to medium and short length referrals (16.2% vs. 5.1% vs. 3.5%, P < .001). Referring provider specialty was also predictive of non-PFL (P < .001) with most received by Family Medicine (8.3%), Optometry (4.4%), Emergency Medicine (0.62%), Ophthalmology (4.2%), Others (2.9%). Patient gender (P = .5563), patient age (P = .3466), and referring provider gender (P = .9057) were not predictive of non-PFL., Conclusions: Non-PFL use was most prevalent in 2020, with the most common referral sources being Family Medicine and Optometry. The highest proportions of non-PFL errors made were diabetes and stigma errors. Increased use of PFL in physician-physician communication can decrease intersectional stigma and promote inclusive patient care for ophthalmology patients., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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