title: Language barriers: use of regular medical doctors by Canada's official language minorities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess use of regular medical doctors (RMDs), as well as awareness and use of telephone health lines or telehealth services, by official language minorities (OLMs) in Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis of data from the 2006 postcensal survey on the vitality of OLMs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 7691 English speakers in Quebec and 12 376 French speakers outside Quebec, grouped into those who experienced language barriers and those with no language barriers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Health services utilization (HSU) by the presence of language barriers; HSU measures included having an RMD, use of an RMD's services, and awareness of and use of telephone health lines or telehealth services. Multivariable models examined the associations between HSU and language barriers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for age and sex, English speakers residing in Quebec with limited proficiency in French were less likely to have RMDs (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.66, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.87) and to use the services of their RMDs (AOR 0.65, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.86), but were more likely to be aware of the existence of (AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.93) and to use (AOR 1.43, 95% CI 0.97 to 2.11) telephone health lines or telehealth services. This pattern of having and using RMDs and telehealth services was not observed for French speakers residing outside of Quebec.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall we found variation in HSU among the language barrier populations, with lower use observed in Quebec. Age older than 45 years, male sex, being married or in common-law relationships, and higher income were associated with having RMDs for OLMs.
authors.affiliation: Health Quality Council of Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ngwakongnwi
authors.forename: Brenda R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Hemmelgarn
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Musto
authors.forename: Kathryn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: King-Shier
authors.forename: Hude
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Quan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002170:Canada; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult