Promoting Arabic Sign Language Skills Among Dental Students

While the services available to deaf people in the Middle East have yet to be documented, they need improvement in several countries. The aim of this article was to reduce miscommunication between dentists and deaf patients through the introduction of an optional sign language course for pre-doctoral students and faculty of dentistry at King Abdulaziz University (KAUFD).

All fourth-year pre-doctoral students were invited to participate in an Arabic sign language course. A survey with 11 multiple choice and 38 true/false questions with an "I don't know" option was distributed, both before and two weeks after the course. This survey was extensively validated and pilot-tested before distribution.

The response rate was 141 students (84.9%), 49 of which were males (34.8%) and 92 of which were females (65.2%). The pre-doctoral students had a higher overall knowledge score (mean 22.9±14.8) and sign language skills (11.1±1.7) after the course compared to before the course (9.8±7.1, and 3.7±3.3, respectively) (all P-value <0.001). All the pre-course individual questions had lower scores compared to the post-course questions (P-value <0.05).

Deaf people might face difficulties communicating at dental health care clinics, which may be improved by equipping dentistry providers with cultural competency training, like this course.