Use of Routine Emergency Department Care Practices with Deaf American Sign Language Users.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Clinical Medicine
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Deaf individuals using American Sign Language (ASL) may face healthcare disparities.
• Empirical data on these disparities, particularly in emergency care, are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the provision of routine emergency department (ED) care for Deaf ASL users.
• To compare care practices and outcomes between Deaf ASL users and hearing English users in the ED.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 2018 ED visits at a US academic medical center.
• Compared Deaf ASL users (n=257) with hearing English users (n=429).
• Used logistic regression to compare four routine ED care practices and ED disposition.

Main Results:

• Deaf ASL users were less likely to have laboratory tests ordered (aOR=0.68).
• Deaf ASL users had lower rates of peripheral intravenous line (PIV) placement.
• High-acuity Deaf ASL users were less likely to have imaging ordered and less likely to be admitted to the hospital.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest disparities in routine ED care for Deaf ASL users.
• Limitations include single-site observational design and reliance on medical records.
• Further research is needed to understand and address these ED care disparities.