Health Literacy among Deaf ASL Users and Cardiovascular Health Risk

描述（由申请人提供）：Michael McKee医学博士是一名聋人家庭医生，他的职业主要是为用美国手语交流的聋人提供医疗保健。聋人美国手语使用者被认为是一个在医学上服务不足的语言少数群体，其障碍和特征与许多其他语言少数群体相似。这一群体在很大程度上也没有得到充分的研究，这阻碍了2010年健康人目标的进展，即减少少数民族和残疾人之间的健康差距。麦基博士的目标是成为语言少数群体健康素养主题的主要专家和独立调查员。他最感兴趣的是研究健康素养低下对聋人美国手语使用者心血管疾病的影响。美国疾控中心资助的预防研究中心：罗切斯特大学的国家聋人健康研究中心（NCDHR）的独特环境为麦基博士完成这项任务提供了一个非常理想的场所。据报道，纽约州罗彻斯特的人均失聪人口是美国最高的。罗彻斯特庞大而活跃的聋人社区为评估和合作减少健康差距提供了充足的机会。为了实现职业发展奖中概述的目标，麦基博士将与专家导师密切合作，进行严格的个性化课程计划，在健康素养、聋人健康、心血管流行病学、健康差异、调查方法和高级统计分析等领域提供进一步的培训。在导师、顾问和导师的指导下，McKee博士将开展一项研究项目，以进一步发展他的研究技能，并获得有关成年聋人美国手语使用者健康素养和心血管健康之间关系的新的有价值的信息。为了确定这种联系的程度，我们将对聋人美国手语使用者和听力正常的英语母语者进行一项横断面研究。将使用多种工具和问卷来比较聋人美国手语使用者和听力健全的英语母语者之间的研究，以更好地确定聋人美国手语使用者的健康素养是否较低，并评估其与心血管风险增加的潜在关联。由于没有针对美国手语用户的健康素养评估工具，因此将对现有的健康素养评估工具“最新生命体征”（NVS）进行改编和翻译。改编后的NVS将是评估聋人美国手语使用者健康素养所需的第一种评估工具。将收集英语熟练程度、医疗保健获取和心血管知识的测量数据，以确定其对两个研究组心血管健康的影响。为了确定健康素养与心血管健康的关系，我们将使用非实验室基础的Framingham预测评分来评估研究组和对照组的心血管疾病风险。通过确定聋人美国手语使用者健康素养的流行程度及其与心血管健康风险的关系，我们可以了解如何更好地制定有效的美国手语健康素养和心血管健康教育计划。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Michael McKee, MD is a deaf family physician whose career is centered on healthcare for deaf individuals who communicate in American Sign Language (ASL). Deaf ASL users are considered to be a linguistic minority group that is medically underserved with barriers and characteristics similar to what is found among many other linguistic minority groups. This group is also largely understudied which prevents progress in the Healthy People 2010's goals to reduce health disparities among minorities and disabled persons. Dr. McKee's goal is to become a leading expert and an independent investigator on the topic of health literacy among linguistic minority populations. He is most interested in studying the impact of poor health literacy on cardiovascular disease among Deaf ASL users. The unique environment of the CDC-funded Preventive Research Center: National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR) at the University of Rochester provides a very ideal place for Dr. McKee to accomplish that mission. Rochester, New York, has been anecdotally reported to have the highest per capita deaf population in the United States. The large and active Deaf community in Rochester provides ample opportunities to evaluate and collaborate with to reduce health disparities. In order to achieve the goals outlined in the career development award, Dr. McKee will work closely with expert mentors to undergo a rigorous individualized curriculum plan that will provide further training in the fields of health literacy, deaf health, cardiovascular epidemiology, health disparities, survey methods, and advanced statistical analysis. With the guidance of mentors, consultants and preceptors, Dr. McKee will conduct a research project to further his research skills development and to obtain new and valuable information about the association of health literacy and cardiovascular health on Deaf adult ASL users. To determine the degree of association, a cross- sectional study will be conducted with Deaf ASL users and hearing native English speakers. Multiple tools and questionnaires will be used to compare study between Deaf ASL users and hearing native English speakers to better determine whether health literacy is lower among Deaf ASL users and assess its potential association with increased cardiovascular risk. Since no health literacy assessment tools exist for ASL users, an adaptation and translation of an existing health literacy assessment tool called the "Newest Vital Sign" (NVS) will take place. The adapted NVS will be the first of its kind assessment tool necessary for evaluating health literacy among Deaf ASL users. Measurements of English proficiency, health care access, and cardiovascular knowledge will be collected to determine its impact on cardiovascular health for both study groups. To determine the association of health literacy with cardiovascular health, we will utilize a non-laboratory based Framingham prediction score to evaluate the risk for cardiovascular disease for both the study and control group. By determining the prevalence and the degree of health literacy and its association with cardiovascular health risk in Deaf ASL users, we can learn how to better develop effective health literacy and cardiovascular health educational programs that are accessible in American Sign Language. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The overarching aim of this proposed Mentored Career Development Award is for Michael McKee, MD to become an independent health services researcher with a career focused on health literacy in linguistic minority populations including Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users. The aim of the proposed mentored research project is to assess health literacy and its association with cardiovascular health among Deaf ASL users. (End of Abstract)