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Objectives: To investigate what proportion of patients attending a rheumatology unit in Birmingham, UK, require interpretation services and to assess the use of an Asian language telephone helpline we have established for those who find it easier to communicate in Punjabi, Urdu or Hindi than in English., Methods: Our patients' requirement for interpretation services and their ability to read the script of the language they preferred to communicate in was assessed. A second survey assessed the use of an Asian language helpline we had established. All calls were recorded over 18 months. The reasons for the calls were categorized and compared with those made to our English helpline., Results: 171 of 512 patients (33%) stated that they required interpretation services. 128 (25%) were not able to read the script of their preferred language. In the second survey, 101 calls to the Asian language helpline were assessed and were compared with calls to the English helpline. The reasons for the calls differed between the helplines., Conclusions: A large proportion of patients attending our rheumatology unit required interpretation services to communicate effectively with their healthcare professional. Most of these patients were unable to read the script of the language they could speak, casting some doubt over the utility of translated written information. Patients of South Asian origin who preferred to communicate in Punjabi, Urdu or Hindi made use of a helpline operating in these languages, suggesting that this may be an effective strategy to facilitate communication with this group of patients.

Purpose of Review: To describe recent studies of differences in the occurrence and outcomes of rheumatic diseases and differences in treatment by ethnic group or socioeconomic status., Recent Findings: African Americans and Hispanics in the United States have consistently been found to have higher prevalences of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions than whites, and also generally have more activity limitations in the setting of rheumatic disease. Variations in disease occurrence by socioeconomic status have not been studied extensively. African Americans with osteoarthritis were less likely than whites to be treated with narcotic analgesics. Rates of total knee or hip arthroplasty were found to be substantially lower among African Americans and Hispanics than among whites in the United States, and lower among those of low socioeconomic status in the United Kingdom. Ethnic differences in use of arthroplasty have been associated with less willingness of African Americans to have surgery, which has been related to perceptions of uncertain benefits of surgery. Poverty and ethnicity had important associations with the activity of systemic lupus erythematosus, whereas socioeconomic status was a more important predictor of mortality in these patients. Treatment adherence was similar in African American and white patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, but barriers to adherence differed by ethnic group., Summary: Ethnic disparities in health have been more extensively studied than socioeconomic disparities. Most studies only describe the disparities, but several studies have begun to investigate potential reasons for the disparities.