Background: Some patients visit a hospital's emergency department (ED) for reasons other than an urgent medical condition. There is evidence that this practice may differ among patients from different backgrounds. The objective of this study was to examine the reasons why patients from a non-English speaking background (NESB) and patients with an English speaking background but not born in Australia (ESB-NBA) visit the ED, as compared to patients from English-speaking backgrounds but born in Australia (ESB-BA). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the ED of a tertiary hospital in metropolitan Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Over a four-month period patients who were assigned an Australasian Triage Scale score of 3, 4 or 5 were surveyed. Pearson chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the differences between the ESB and NESB patients' reported reasons for attending the ED. Results: A total of 828 patients participated in this study. Compared to ESB-BA patients NESB patients were less likely to consider contacting a general practitioner (GP) before attending the ED (Odds Ratios (OR) 0.6 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.4-0.8, p<.05) While ESB-NBA were more likely to consider contacting a GP 1.7 (1.1-2.5, p<.05). Both the NESB patients and the ESB-NBA patients were far more likely than ESB-BA patients to report that they had visited the ED either because they do not have a GP (OR 7.9, 95% CI 4.7-13.4, p<.001) and 2.2 (95% CI 1.1-4.4, p<.05) respectively and less likely to think that the ED could deal with their problem better than a GP (OR 0.5 (95% CI 0.3-0.8, p<.05) and 0.7 (0.3-0.9, p<.05) respectively. The NESB patients also thought it would take too long to make an appointment to consult a GP (OR 6.2, 95% CI 3.7-10.4, p<0.001). Conclusions: NESB patients were the least likely to consider contacting a GP before attending hospital EDs. Educational interventions may help direct NESB people to the appropriate health services and therefore reduce the burden on tertiary hospitals ED. © Mahmoud et al.

emergency department immigrants General practitioner

general practice immigrant health care survey Health Care Surveys Australia chi square test multivariate logistic regression analysis human middle aged statistics and numerical data Aged general practitioner Logistic Models emergency ward language Cross-Sectional Studies Young Adult cross-sectional study migrant psychology Humans Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants female Aged, 80 and over Socioeconomic Factors very elderly socioeconomics tertiary care center scoring system Article major clinical study adult emergency health service utilization hospital emergency service Emergency Service, Hospital Queensland statistical model Triage attitude to health primary health care