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. 2023 Mar;23(2):359-362.
doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2022.06.009. Epub 2022 Jun 26.

Time Spent at Well-Child Care Visits for English- and Spanish-Speaking Parents

Kendra Liljenquist  1 , Rachel Hurst  2 , Laura Sotelo Guerra  2 , Peter G Szilagyi  3 , Kevin Fiscella  4 , Lorena Porras-Javier  3 , Tumaini R Coker  5
Affiliations

Time Spent at Well-Child Care Visits for English- and Spanish-Speaking Parents

Kendra Liljenquist et al. Acad Pediatr. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To measure duration of well-child care (WCC) visits at 2 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), across 10 clinic sites, and determine if differences exist in visit duration for English- and Spanish-speaking parents.

Methods: Upon arrival to their child's 2- to 24-month well visit, a research team member followed families throughout their visit noting start and end times for a series of 5 WCC visit tasks. The average time to complete each visit task for the entire sample was then calculated. Mann-Whitney U tests were run to determine if task completion time differed significantly between English- and Spanish-speaking parents.

Results: The total sample included 199 parents of infants and children between 2 and 24 months old. Over one third of the sample spoke Spanish as their primary language (37%). The average visit time was 77 minutes (standard deviation [SD] = 48). Median time spent with the clinician was 14 minutes (SD = 5). Clinician visit time was significantly different U = 2608, P < .001, r = 0.38 between English- (median = 15 minutes) and Spanish (median = 11 minutes)-speaking parents. No other significant differences were identified.

Discussion: Our findings align with previous studies showing the average time spent with a clinician during a WCC visit was 15 minutes. Further, the average time with a clinician was less for Spanish-speaking parents. With limited visit length to address child and family concerns, re-designing the structure and duration of WCC visits is critical to best meet the needs of families living in poverty, and may ensure that Spanish-speaking parents receive appropriate guidance and support without time limitations.

Keywords: disparities; equity; time motion study; well-child care.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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