Health outcomes in Deaf signing populations: A systematic review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives (i) To identify peer reviewed publications reporting the mental and/or physical health outcomes of Deaf adults who are sign language users and to synthesise evidence; (ii) If data available, to analyse how the health of the adult Deaf population compares to that of the general population; (iii) to evaluate the quality of evidence in the identified publications; (iv) to identify limitations of the current evidence base and suggest directions for future research. Design Systematic review. Data sources Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, and Web of Science Eligibility criteria for selecting studies The inclusion criteria were Deaf adult populations who used a signed language, all study types, including methods-focused papers which also contain results in relation to health outcomes of Deaf signing populations. Full-text articles, published in peer-review journals were searched up to 13 th June 2023, published in English or a signed language such as ASL (American Sign Language). Data extraction Supported by the Rayyan systematic review software, two authors independently reviewed identified publications at each screening stage (primary and secondary). A third reviewer was consulted to settle any disagreements. Comprehensive data extraction included research design, study sample, methodology, findings, and a quality assessment. Results Of the 35 included studies, the majority (25 out of 35) concerned mental health outcomes. The findings from this review highlighted the inequalities in health and mental health outcomes for Deaf signing populations in comparison with the general population, gaps in the range of conditions studied in relation to Deaf people, and the poor quality of available data. Conclusions Population sample definition and consistency of standards of reporting of health outcomes for Deaf people who use sign language should be improved. Further research on health outcomes not previously reported is needed to gain better understanding of Deaf people’s state of health. Strengths and limitations of this study This is the first systematic review of health and mental health outcomes that focused solely on evidence concerning Deaf adults who are sign language users as a distinct population rather than their incorporation within broader based health outcomes studies about deaf people in general. The review is international in scope and covers the health outcomes of Deaf adult sign language users across the globe. This systematic review was carried out following the PRISMA guidelines by a multidisciplinary team of Deaf and hearing health service researchers from varied backgrounds. The weakness of many studies is clearly distinguishing the population of deaf sign language users within their samples, results in discarding some evidence that might have otherwise been helpful. Original protocol for the study Prospero registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=182609

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