Chronic opioid use was more frequent among patients needing translation services (p=0.001)
Source
Kapoor (2023). The Impact of the Need for Language Assistance Services on the Use of Regional Anesthesia, Postoperative Pain Scores and Opioid Administration in Surgical Oncology Patients. J Pers Med.
Description #
In the full unmatched cohort, the incidence of chronic opioid use was slightly but significantly higher among patients needing translation services than among English-proficient patients (p = 0.001) (Table 1). This is a baseline characteristic of the population needing language assistance.
"Interestingly, the incidence of chronic opioid use was also slightly but significantly higher in patients needing (n = 100. 8.1%) translation services than those who were English proficient (n = 200.,5.6%, p = 0.001)." (Kapoor, 2023, p. 4)
Source note (flagged): the cell counts/percentages as printed ("n = 100. 8.1%" for needing vs "n = 200.,5.6%" for English proficient) are confusingly presented and appear cross-tabulated against Table 1's chronic-opioid-use rows rather than a clean group comparison. The quote is copied verbatim (including the original typographic errors). The finding is captured at the authors' asserted level: a significant association (p = 0.001), chronic opioid use more frequent among LAS-needing patients.
Methods Context #
What? #ⓘ
The observable: prevalence of a history of chronic opioid use, compared by need for translation services.
"comorbidities (i.e., ... history of chronic pain and opioid use)... were obtained from electronic medical records (EMR)." (Kapoor, 2023, p. 2)
How? #ⓘ
Retrospective EMR review; categorical association tested with chi-square / Fisher's exact test on the unmatched cohort.
"The chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate the association between two categorical variables." (Kapoor, 2023, p. 2)
Who? #ⓘ
The full unmatched cohort of 4791 adults undergoing open abdominal oncologic surgery at a single academic cancer center, 2016–2021.
"A total of 4791 patients were included from our database (Table 1)." (Kapoor, 2023, p. 3)
Other Notes #
Preoperative opioid use was one of the covariates included in the propensity-score model, so this baseline imbalance was adjusted for in the matched analysis.