UMEM Educational Pearls

The term Latinx gained some popularity as a gender neutral/noncomforming descriptor for people of Hispanic descent.  However, in some national surveys among Hispanic populations in the US, only a small percent were even aware of the term or what it meant.

This study looked at patients at several hospitals with large Hispanic populations.  Again a minority of respondents had even heard of the term.  In those that had heard of it, there were a wide range of self reports interpretations of what exactly it means. 

In the end, we come back to the same conclusion: if you want to know how your patient wants to be addressed, just ask.  Don't assume

References

Demystifying Hispanic Versus Latino/a Versus Latinx: Which Do Emergency Department Patients Prefer?

Molina, Melanie F. et al.

Annals of Emergency Medicine, Volume 0, Issue 0