Wave 1 – Report 2020

Health

We used a questionnaire to investigate domains of health (the EQ-5D-5L) that is adjusted for different populations; in this case the UK as a whole. Self- assessment scores are transformed using an algorithm that is based on variations in the general population which makes comparisons between groups more reliable.

Responses from the READY study cohort indicate they have much poorer overall health than others of the same age when adjusted for norms in the UK. Differences were particularly strong in relation to anxiety/depression. Co-incidence of additional needs with deafness goes some way towards explaining the lower scores but does not adequately explain the result. Gender and degree of deafness have no influence on the result.

Deaf young people overall assessed their health at a much lower level than hearing young people of the same age in other UK-wide studies. On a scale of 0 (worst possible health you can imagine) to 99 (best possible health you can imagine), the READY study cohort average was 72. This compares with the Health Survey of England average for 16-19 year olds of 81.

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