Health Literacy among Deaf ASL Users and Cardiovascular Health Risk

描述（由申请人提供）：Michael McKee，MD是一名聋人家庭医生，其职业生涯以美国手语（ASL）沟通的聋人的医疗保健为中心。聋人手语使用者被认为是一个语言少数群体，在医学上缺乏服务，其障碍和特征与许多其他语言少数群体相似。对这一群体的研究也基本不足，这阻碍了在实现“2010年健康人”减少少数群体和残疾人健康差距的目标方面取得进展。 麦基博士的目标是成为语言少数群体健康素养主题的领先专家和独立调查员。他最感兴趣的是研究聋人ASL用户中健康素养差对心血管疾病的影响。CDC资助的预防研究中心的独特环境：罗切斯特大学的国家聋人健康研究中心（NCDHR）为麦基博士完成这一使命提供了一个非常理想的场所。 据传闻，纽约的罗切斯特是美国人均聋人人口最多的地方。罗切斯特的聋人社区规模庞大，活动活跃，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，McKee博士将与专家导师密切合作，进行严格的个性化课程计划，该计划将提供健康素养，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的进一步培训。 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，并获得有关聋人成人ASL用户健康素养和心血管健康的新的有价值的信息。为了确定关联程度，将对聋人ASL用户和听力母语为英语的人进行横断面研究。将使用多种工具和问卷来比较聋人ASL用户和听力母语为英语的人之间的研究，以更好地确定聋人ASL用户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使用者的健康素养评估工具，将对称为“最新生命体征”的现有健康素养评估工具进行改编和翻译。经过调整的NVS将是第一个评估聋人ASL用户健康素养所需的评估工具。将收集英语水平，医疗保健服务和心血管知识的测量结果，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联，我们将利用非实验室基础的Fragrance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ASL用户的健康素养的患病率和程度及其与心血管健康风险的相关性，我们可以了解如何更好地制定有效的健康素养和心血管健康教育计划，这些计划可以在美国手语中获得。 公共卫生相关性：这个建议的指导职业发展奖的总体目标是迈克尔麦基，医学博士成为一个独立的卫生服务研究员，职业生涯专注于健康素养的语言少数民族人口，包括聋人美国手语（ASL）用户。拟议的指导研究项目的目的是评估健康素养及其与聋人ASL用户心血管健康的关联。(End摘要）

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)