Assessing Cardiovascular Risks in Deaf Adolescents who use Sign Language

描述（由申请人提供）：Scott R. Smith，医学博士，公共卫生硕士，是一名耳聋儿科医生，精通英语和美国手语（ASL）。他的职业生涯一直专注于特殊和服务不足的人群的医疗保健，包括使用手语的聋儿和青少年。Smith博士的职业目标是成为一名领先的专家和独立研究员，在聋哑青少年的心血管健康知识和读写能力方面进行突破性的研究。罗彻斯特大学为史密斯博士提供了一个理想的环境来实现他的目标，罗彻斯特大学有大量的聋儿和聋人，罗彻斯特大学医学中心被激励成为一个卓越的中心，为聋人提供健康促进和疾病预防。史密斯博士将追求更高级的研究培训，包括正式的课程，有指导的个性化课程，咨询支持，指导咨询委员会会议，实地考察和国家会议，以发展必要的研究技能和社区合作，以实现他的目标。此外，由于使用美国手语的聋人似乎有更高的特定心血管风险，包括肥胖，史密斯博士将与他的导师、顾问和顾问一起开展一项研究项目，以进一步发展他的研究技能，并产生关于关键心血管健康知识和聋人美国手语青少年读写技能的新的有价值的信息。他们将根据焦点小组的调查结果和对失聪青少年的认知访谈，开发一种新的书面英语测量方法，调查与饮食、运动和个人家庭心血管病史相关的特定心血管健康知识和读写能力。然后，他们将把这种书面英语调查改编成基于计算机的英语视听和基于计算机的美国手语视频调查，并对聋人和听力健全的青少年进行这些调查，以评估他们的特定心血管健康知识和素养。史密斯博士将与聋人和卫生保健社区分享这些数据，以规划未来的研究和干预措施，以解决聋人美国手语社区的心血管健康差异。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Scott R. Smith, MD, MPH is a deaf pediatrician who is bilingual in English and American Sign Language (ASL). His career has focused on health care in special and often underserved populations including deaf children and adolescents who use sign language. Dr. Smith's career objective is to become a leading expert and independent researcher to conduct breakthrough research in cardiovascular health knowledge and literacy in deaf adolescents. The University of Rochester provides Dr. Smith with an ideal environment to work towards his objective with Rochester having a large population of deaf children and people and the University of Rochester Medical Center being motivated to become a center of excellence on health promotion and disease prevention with people who are deaf. Dr. Smith will pursue more advanced research training including formal coursework, mentored individualized curricula, consultative supports, mentorial advisory committee meetings, field trips, and national conferences to develop the necessary research skills and community collaborations to achieve his goals and objectives. Furthermore, because deaf people who use ASL appear to be at a higher risk for specific cardiovascular risks including obesity, Dr. Smith will work with his mentors, consultants, and advisors to conduct a research project to further his research skills development and to generate new and valuable information about critical cardiovascular health knowledge and literacy skills of deaf ASL adolescents. They will accomplish this by developing a new written English measure and survey of specific cardiovascular health knowledge and literacy related to diet, exercise, and personal family cardiovascular history based on findings from focus groups and cognitive interviews of deaf adolescents. They will then adapt this written English survey into computer- based English audio and visual and computer-based ASL video surveys and administer these surveys to cohorts of deaf and hearing adolescents to evaluate their specific cardiovascular health knowledge and literacy. Dr. Smith will share the data with the deaf and health care communities to plan future research and interventions to address the cardiovascular health disparities of the deaf ASL community. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The overarching aim of this proposed Mentored Career Development Award is for Scott Smith, MD, MPH to become an independent physician-scientist with a career focused on cardiovascular health knowledge and literacy in deaf adolescents who use sign language. The aim of the proposed mentored research project is to assess specific cardiovascular health knowledge and literacy skills in deaf adolescents who primarily communicate through American Sign Language (ASL) by developing a new measure and survey of critical cardiovascular health knowledge and literacy skills focused on diet, exercise, and personal family history. We will focus this new measure to capture aspects of health literacy not yet measured in literature, which will lead to more effective interventions to address and reduce the critical cardiovascular health disparities in the community of deaf people who communicate through sign language. (End of Abstract)