Communication Challenges While Dealing With a Deaf Patient in the Emergency Department and Suggested Solutions

Background In the emergency department (ED), dealing with deaf patients presents unique difficulties and obstacles. There is insufficient time to arrange for an interpreter. While the voice of the deaf patient was the focus of earlier studies, in this study, we are interested in learning about ED physicians' difficulties and expertise. In addition, we aim to determine which approaches they suggest to address these issues. Methodology A cross-sectional analysis was conducted among 166 emergency physicians working in pediatric and adult departments. The data were collected from physicians working in different centers in Riyadh city from January 2022 to March 2022. The data analysis was performed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results In their department policy and procedures, 74.1% of participants claimed no policy or procedure for dealing with deaf patients. The majority of available communication methods were family interpreters (63.9%) and writing on paper (16.9%). Overall, 88% of respondents did not attend any training on dealing with deaf patients, despite the fact that 83.7% thought such training should be available. Furthermore, 90.4% of the participants did not know sign language. Concerning information about the Saudi Association for Hearing Impairment Services, 74.1% were unaware of such services. Concerning modern applications on smartphones, 97.6% were unaware of any existing communication app that could aid in communication with deaf patients. Conclusions In this study, we identified a significant deficiency in the knowledge and skills required to communicate with deaf patients. Hence, we recommend mandating education for physicians and requiring each institution to have an interpreter available 24 hours a day, either in person or via high-quality remote video.