Language Accessibility at Select Academic Ophthalmology Centers Across US Metropolitan Areas.
Spanish-speaking patients had the lowest ophthalmologist availability across regions.
Language Accessibility at Select Academic Ophthalmology Centers Across US Metropolitan Areas.
IMPORTANCE: Language concordance between patients and physicians may improve health outcomes; the extent to which academic ophthalmology centers meet the needs of limited English proficiency populations remains unclear.
To evaluate alignment between ophthalmologists language skills at US academic ophthalmology centers and linguistic needs of surrounding limited English proficiency populations.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study included ophthalmologists affiliated with 32 ophthalmology programs across 28 metropolitan areas, identified from overlap of 2024-2025 US News & World Report "Best Hospitals for Ophthalmology" rankings and 2024 Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research data on National Institutes of Health funding.
Across regions, total coverage was 45 of 82 ophthalmologists (54.9%) in the Northeast, 31 of 59 (52.5%) in the South, 29 of 72 (40.3%) in the West, and 24 of 74 (32.4%) in the Midwest.
Coverage in the Midwest was lower than in the Northeast (difference, -0.22; 95% CI, -0.42 to -0.02; P = .03).
Across 49 identified languages, only Spanish (mean adjusted ratio, 0.64 [95% CI, 0.28-1.00]) and Vietnamese (mean adjusted ratio, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.05-1.67]) were present in every region with consistent underrepresentation.
In this cross-sectional study, academic ophthalmology centers demonstrated substantial gaps in language concordance, with Spanish-speaking patients disproportionately affected despite representing the largest limited English proficiency population nationally.