Emergency Department utilization among Deaf American Sign Language users

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Health Disparities
• Linguistic Minority Health

Background:

• Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users are a linguistic minority facing significant healthcare access challenges.
• Communication barriers and low health literacy contribute to poor healthcare experiences for deaf ASL users.
• These barriers may disproportionately increase Emergency Department (ED) utilization among deaf individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and compare Emergency Department (ED) utilization rates between deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users and hearing English speakers.
• To identify potential disparities in healthcare access and utilization based on hearing status.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective cohort study was conducted using medical records.
• The study sample comprised 400 patients: 200 deaf ASL users and 200 hearing English speakers from a high-volume primary care center.
• Data abstracted included demographics, insurance, health behaviors, and ED use over 36 months.

Main Results:

• Deaf patients were more likely to be never smokers and insured by Medicaid.
• In adjusted analyses, deaf individuals demonstrated a significantly higher likelihood of ED use within the past 36 months (OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.11-3.51).

Conclusions:

• Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users exhibit a greater propensity for elevated Emergency Department (ED) utilization compared to the general hearing population.
• Further research is crucial to understand the underlying factors driving increased ED utilization among deaf ASL users.
• Addressing communication barriers and health literacy is essential to improve healthcare access for this population.