Cumulative trauma disorders and interpreters for the deaf in Texas

This study was conducted for several reasons. One reason was to develop an instrument to assess knowledge of Cumulative Trauma disorders (CTDs) and behaviors to prevent CTDs in interpreters for the deaf (the CTDQ). A second reason for completing this study was to determine the relationship between knowledge and preventive behaviors regarding CTDs in interpreters for the deaf. The final reason for this study was to determine the relationship between time spent signing, personal history of CTDs, and knowledge of CTDs and behaviors to prevent CTDs. The convenience sample for this study w~s comprised of 300 volunteer participants randomly selected from the list of Texas Certified Interpreters for the deaf. After the final mailing to Texas certified interpreters for the deaf 171 interpreters participated in the study by fully or partially completing the CTDQ developed for this study. A panel of experts reviewed the instrument for content validity. A post hoc cronbach's alpha test indicated that the reliability was poor on both the knowledge and behavior scale. Based on the results from the two two-way analysis of variance studies and four correlation tests there were no statistically significant findings to support a relationship between between knowledge and preventive behaviors regarding CTDs in interpreters for the deaf or to support a relationship between time spent signing, history of CTDs, and knowledge of CTDs and behaviors to prevent CTDs.