Miller, Kendall and Deirdre Schlehofer. "Contraceptive Use and STI Screening Knowledge Among Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and Hearing Women." Journal of Student Research. (2025): 25-35. Web. *
This study investigates disparities in sexual health knowledge, access to contraceptive use, sexually transmitted infections screenings, and the availability of accurate healthcare information amongst deaf/hard-of-hearing and hearing female college students. Twenty-four deaf/hard-of-hearing and 46 hearing participants (ages 18–27) completed a survey comparing sexual health knowledge and practice. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether college-aged deaf women had an understanding equivalent to college-aged hearing women regarding sexual health, contraceptive use, and testing. The survey results reveal areas where health literacy can be improved, particularly for deaf/hard of hearing women facing language barriers in accessing educational resources. With this information, suggestions and solutions can be made to improve access to medical information for linguistic minorities, highlighting the urgent need to address health disparities. Findings indicate that hearing participants overall reported greater sexual activity and higher condom use than deaf/hard of hearing women. Hormonal birth control use was lower among deaf/hard of hearing women participants, with many reporting that they lacked sufficient access to birth control. First language use impacted sexual risk behaviors, with hearing participants raised in foreign language environments reporting lower contraceptive use and no STI testing. Language-deprived deaf and hard-of-hearing women also displayed differences in sexual health and risk behaviors. These differences may reflect disparities in access to language-appropriate sexual health education.