184143 Comorbidities and Health Risks among Minorities with Sensory Impairments: Need for Public Health Intervention

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 9:15 AM

Gwyn C. Jones, PhD, MSW, MEd , National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
     
Objective: To identify comorbid conditions and health risks among minorities with vision and/or hearing (sensory) impairments that should be addressed in the public health arena.

Methods: We back-coded questions from the 2000-2006 National Health Interview Survey, to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework to identify comorbidities and health risks among minorities with visual impairments (trouble seeing, even with corrective lenses) and/or hearing impairments(a little trouble, some trouble, a lot of trouble hearing, deaf) among racial/ethnic minorities and non-minority whites. In the logistic regression models we controlled for the effects of age, sex, income, education and marital status. Findings were significant at p<.001 with non-minority whites having no sensory impairments as our reference group.

Results: Compared with non-impaired, non-minority whites, minorities with sensory impairments were more likely to have fair/poor health (36.3% v. 7.9%, AOR=6.19), diabetes (18.0% v. 9.6%, AOR=3.00), hypertension (43.5% v. 20.8%, AOR=2.01), problems with ADLs (6.3% v. 1.0%, AOR=4.14) and IADLs (13.7% v. 2.4%, AOR=3.75), obesity (29.7% v. 20.6%, AOR=1.49), and not exercising weekly (53.8% v. 34.5%, AOR=1.59). Minority adults with sensory loss also had higher odds of having low educational attainment (AOR=1.96), income below $20,000 (AOR=2.27) and not working (AOR=1.73.

Conclusions: Adults in racial/ethnic minorities who have visual and/or hearing impairments face health threats that may lead to further disability and health decline without timely interventions. Public health measures must address the intersection of minority cultures and disabilities in both service delivery and provision of information in alternative formats that accommodate significant sensory loss.

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify health threats among adults in racial/ethnic minority groups who also experience serious sensory disabilities. 2. Understand the importance of designing public health interventions that address both cultural differences and the needs of individuals who experience vision and/or hearing loss. 3. Increase knowledge in the utility and application of the ICF framework in disability and health promotion research.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: No conflicts of interest of any kind.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Disability and Health Promotion B
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