Abstract

Session presented on Saturday, March 18, 2017: Problem: Although the number of sign language users in the United States has not been measured by census efforts, estimates range between 500,000 and 2 million users. 17.1% lost their hearing before age 19 and 6.6% lost their hearing before age 3. Compared with the hearing population, they have poor health knowledge and inequitable access to medical and behavioral care in our health system due to cultural and language barriers. The deaf populations are at high risk for health disparities. Purpose: The purposes of this literature review are to synthesize current literature on health risk behaviors of deaf and hard-of-hearing youth and to summarize health risk preventive interventions that have been used in deaf and hard-of-hearing youth population. Search Strategy: The CINAHAL, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Proquest were used to obtain evidences and unpolished students' dissertations and theses. Keywords included deaf, hard of hearing, health needs, risk behaviors, health promotion. The Limits included date of publication no earlier than 2000, English language, peer reviewed journals, and opinions of authorities or expert committees. Results of Literature Search: The search resulted in 16 articles that met inclusion criteria. The level of evidence ranged from level 3 to 7 with no systematic literature review and no randomized controlled trials. Synthesis of Evidence: Studies have found that previous studies focused on health risk behaviors of deaf and hard-of-hearing you include mental health (suicide), physical abuse, unintentional injuries, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; risky sexual behaviors; HIV prevention, overweight; and physical inactivity. Synthesis of evidence supported that deaf individuals have higher rates of suicide and mental disorder, higher rates of obesity, higher rates of unintentional injury risk, higher rate of substance abuse (alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use), and increased rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections than those who are hearing. Implications for Practice: Limited evidence has emerged to support health preventive interventions for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth. It's suggested that further research using a variety of study designs is needed to close gap in our understanding of health risk prevention issues in this population. Learning Objectives: Synthesize current literature on health risk behaviors of deaf and hard-of-hearing youth, summarize health risk preventive interventions that have been used in deaf and hard-of-hearing youth population.

Author Details

Ying Xue, RN; Huey-Shys Chen, RN, MCHES, FAAN; Yu-han Zheng, RN; Yu-ku Chen, RN

Sigma Membership

Zeta Theta at-Large

Type

Poster

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Deaf Youth, Risk Behaviors, Preventive Interventions

Conference Name

Creating Healthy Work Environments 2017

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Conference Year

2017

Rights Holder

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All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Event Material, Invited Presentation

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

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Risk behaviors and preventive interventions for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Session presented on Saturday, March 18, 2017: Problem: Although the number of sign language users in the United States has not been measured by census efforts, estimates range between 500,000 and 2 million users. 17.1% lost their hearing before age 19 and 6.6% lost their hearing before age 3. Compared with the hearing population, they have poor health knowledge and inequitable access to medical and behavioral care in our health system due to cultural and language barriers. The deaf populations are at high risk for health disparities. Purpose: The purposes of this literature review are to synthesize current literature on health risk behaviors of deaf and hard-of-hearing youth and to summarize health risk preventive interventions that have been used in deaf and hard-of-hearing youth population. Search Strategy: The CINAHAL, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Proquest were used to obtain evidences and unpolished students' dissertations and theses. Keywords included deaf, hard of hearing, health needs, risk behaviors, health promotion. The Limits included date of publication no earlier than 2000, English language, peer reviewed journals, and opinions of authorities or expert committees. Results of Literature Search: The search resulted in 16 articles that met inclusion criteria. The level of evidence ranged from level 3 to 7 with no systematic literature review and no randomized controlled trials. Synthesis of Evidence: Studies have found that previous studies focused on health risk behaviors of deaf and hard-of-hearing you include mental health (suicide), physical abuse, unintentional injuries, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; risky sexual behaviors; HIV prevention, overweight; and physical inactivity. Synthesis of evidence supported that deaf individuals have higher rates of suicide and mental disorder, higher rates of obesity, higher rates of unintentional injury risk, higher rate of substance abuse (alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use), and increased rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections than those who are hearing. Implications for Practice: Limited evidence has emerged to support health preventive interventions for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth. It's suggested that further research using a variety of study designs is needed to close gap in our understanding of health risk prevention issues in this population. Learning Objectives: Synthesize current literature on health risk behaviors of deaf and hard-of-hearing youth, summarize health risk preventive interventions that have been used in deaf and hard-of-hearing youth population.