Language Barriers Linked to Underdiagnosis of Eczema and Other Allergic Conditions

Among children with a language preference other than English, the diagnosis of eczema was about 2/3 as common.

Language barriers may cause some kids with allergic conditions such as eczema, food allergy, and asthma to be underdiagnoses, according to research presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Anaheim, CA.

“We wondered if those who spoke a language other than English would be underdiagnosed for some allergic conditions,” says Hao Tseng, MD, ACAAI member and lead author on the study, in a news release.

Among children with a language preference other than English, the diagnosis of asthma was less than half as common, eczema was about 2/3 as common, and allergic rhinitis was slightly more than half as  common when compared with children whose preferred language was English. A similar correlation for the diagnosis of food allergy was deemed not statistically significant, the study found.

To conduct the study, a retrospective review of electronic health records (EHR) of all patients under 18 years of age who were seen from 7/1/2020 to 4/30/2023 in a primary care pediatric clinic was conducted. A total of 16,517 children were included in the study. The mean age was 6.2 years and 48.6% of children were female. The majority of children were Black (80.4%) and enrolled in Medicaid (78.9%). 14.8% of participants indicated a preference for a language other than English (4% Haitian Creole, 4% Spanish, and 6.5% other).