Genetic testing and eHealth usage among Deaf women

Abstract

In the past decade, accessible information in American Sign Language (ASL) about cancer and genetic testing is expanding on eHealth platforms, including social network sites, commercial sites, and mobile apps. Primary data on genetic testing awareness and genetic testing for BRCA 1/2 among Deaf women were gathered using HINTS‐ASL survey between November 2016 and April 2018, and secondary data for hearing women were drawn from NCI's HINTS 5 Cycle 1 survey in 2017. Deaf women who had heard of DNA testing (63%) were more likely to be young adults, college graduates, and/or have a family history of cancer. Compared to hearing women, Deaf women who had heard of genetic testing were more likely to use social networking sites to read or share information about medical topics and watch health‐related videos. Making eHealth platforms accessible in ASL and easy‐to‐understand text can help reduce knowledge gap in genetic testing, since some Deaf women may not be using genetic testing to help identify whether they are at increased risk for breast and ovarian cancer early on, before they are diagnosed with cancer.

Perception of COVID-19 Physical Distancing Effectiveness and Contagiousness of Asymptomatic Individuals: Cross-sectional Survey of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults in the United States (Preprint)

“…Although both education and physical distancing awareness strongly predicted perceptions of the effectiveness of physical distancing, this study did not find evidence for the contribution of age, gender, and race to the development of appropriate perception of physical distancing effectiveness. This finding is consistent with research studies that reported a connection between more years of education and a greater level of health-related awareness or screening uptake [6][7][8]. Our study also showed that DHH people who have a college degree, as well as knowledge of the effectiveness of physical distancing, were much more likely to believe that an infected person without symptoms is contagious compared to DHH people who did not have a college degree and The lower knowledge of physical distancing and COVID-19 among DHH people who do not have a college degree may be in part explained by inadequate, inaccessible, or misleading information presented in ASL on social media.…”

“…However, most DHH ASL speakers, particularly DHH people with a high school degree or less, depend on information presented in ASL in videos as their go-to source for health information, with Facebook being the most often used source [5]. Previous studies have shown that DHH people with a high school degree or less have lower human papillomavirus knowledge, genetic testing awareness, and HIV screening uptake, all of which can be remedied with greater accessibility of pertinent information in ASL [6][7][8].…”

Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer and Genomic Uncertainty: A QuantCrit Mini-Review

“…However, several championed intersections with race, disability, and rurality. Kushalnagar et al demonstrated that disparities between African American women and white women deepen when the women are deaf (Kushalnagar et al, 2019). While Salloum et al observed rural/ urban differences across racial and ethnic groups (Salloum et al, 2018).…”

Increasing inclusivity in precision medicine research: Views of deaf and hard of hearing individuals

“…15 For instance, a study of Deaf women found increased awareness about genetic testing for BRCA1/2, especially among young adults, college students, and/or those who have a family history of cancer. 16 Whether such views extend to PMR has not been previously studied nor has how deaf/HoH individuals view PMR more generally.…”