PRESS RELEASE

Statistics Institute releases first results on the Study of the Needs of the Deaf Community in Puerto Rico

84% of totally deaf people surveyed who needed public safety services and 75% of those who needed services in government agencies faced barriers

July 21, 2022: The executive director of the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute), Dr. Orville M. Disdier, presented the first results of the Study of the Needs of the Deaf Community in Puerto Rico, through an interactive digital report. This new product, called “Study of the Needs of the Deaf Community: Interactive Report”, presents the first results of the Population Survey that the Institute conducted, both to deaf and partially deaf people, and to the general public. In addition, the interactive report presents the results of focus group interviews with teachers of students with hearing difficulties. The platform presents, for both deaf and partially deaf people, data and statistics on socio-demographic aspects, on the difficulties presented when requesting services, both governmental and non-governmental, on the communication methods used by this community and on the difficulties in accessing information offered by various means of communication, among other findings.

“The data and statistics presented in this interactive report serve as an empirical basis to justify various initiatives and the development of new public policies that promote quality services and better integration of deaf people into the rest of society, while promoting equity and social justice,” said Dr. Disdier.

Some of the most relevant results of the Deaf Community Needs Study:

• 9% of all respondents indicated that they were completely deaf.
• 14% of all respondents indicated that they are partially deaf.
• 62% of the totally deaf people who participated in the survey were deaf at birth, while the remaining 38% became deaf sometime after their birth.
• 66% of the partially deaf who participated in the survey have a level of severe or profound deafness.
• 86% of the totally deaf people surveyed said they often feel discriminated against (41% very often and 45% sometimes). On the other hand, 68% of the partially deaf people surveyed said they often feel discriminated against (20% very often and 48% sometimes).
• 84% of the totally deaf people surveyed, who needed public safety services, faced barriers.
• 75% of the totally deaf people surveyed, who needed services from government agencies, faced barriers.
• On the other hand, 53% of the partially deaf people surveyed, who needed services from government agencies, faced barriers.
• Other places where the totally deaf people surveyed mentioned that they have faced difficulty receiving services, integrating or participating, are:
  • Hospitals (55%)
  • Medical offices (46%)
  • Restaurants (42%)
  • Banks or cooperatives (42%)
  • Place of employment (34%)
  • Cinema or theater (28%)
  • Supermarkets (24%)
  • Concerts or festivals (22%)
  • Gas stations (22%)
• The communication methods used by the totally deaf people surveyed are:
  • Lip reading (83%)
  • ASL signs (64%)
  • Writing (65%)
  • Verbal (59%)
  • Creole signs (56%)
  • Interpreter (45%)
  • Non-formal signs (26%)
• On the other hand, the communication methods most used by partially deaf people surveyed are verbal (87%), lip reading (59%) and written (43%).
• 51% of the totally deaf people surveyed reported using one of the following headphone devices:
  • Behind the ear or behind the ear (64%)
  • CROS hearing aid — BI-CROS (14%)
  • In the ear — Intra shell (11%)
  • Cochlear implant (8%)
  • Open ear — miniature size (3%)
• 58% of partially deaf people surveyed reported using one of the following headphone devices:
  • Behind the ear or behind the ear (53%)
  • CROS hearing aid — BI-CROS (26%)
  • In the channel — Intracanal (11%)
  • In the ear — Intra shell (5%)
  • Other (6%)
• 10% of all respondents indicated that they are hearing people (who are not deaf or partially deaf) but who live with a deaf person.
• 43% of the listeners surveyed, who live with a deaf person, have not taken sign language courses.
• On the other hand, 42% of all respondents indicated that they are hearing people (who are not deaf or partially deaf) but who know a deaf person.
• 25% of all respondents indicated that they are hearing people (who are not deaf or partially deaf) who do not live with a deaf person and who do not know a deaf person.
• In general terms, the educators who participated in the focus groups agreed that there are not many materials adapted for deaf students, so sometimes the teachers themselves have to modify the materials.

In the same way, the educators who participated in the focus groups agreed that in general, parents and/or guardians are not given the necessary support at the time the child is diagnosed. Dr. Disdier explained that the final sample of the survey consisted of 739 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in Puerto Rico, and it was accessible for more than sixty (60) days. A total of 21 educators were part of several focus groups, in which in-depth conversations were held about the needs of deaf students. In this regard, Dr. Disdier argued that “The data collected by educators of deaf students alert us that, like deaf adults, deaf children and adolescents also face challenges and needs, and that these challenges and needs are different and require actions adapted to that demographic sector.”

For his part, Manuel Mangual, Evaluation Specialist, who managed the study, explained that there are still some survey questions that are being processed and whose data will eventually be added to the interactive report. Likewise, in the coming weeks, additional focus group interviews will be conducted, whose results will also be included in the report, expanding and strengthening it. “Working on this project, for the benefit of deaf and partially deaf people, has been a lot of learning, enthusiasm and pride. The study participants gave us the confidence to be part of one voice when it came to their needs. During the next phases, we will continue to produce information aimed at promoting a more inclusive society,” emphasized Mangual.

The Study of the Needs of the Deaf Community: Interactive Report, resides on the website of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics and can be accessed at any time by interested parties at the following e-mail address: Outcomes and Needs Deaf Community.

For technical questions about this report, you can send an email to: preguntas@estadisticas.pr.

To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook accounts (@statistics.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR), Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) and LinkedIn (Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics).

‍

Data presented from the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico

631 homicides and 229 suicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2019

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System (PRVDRS) established at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, presented data from the 2019 Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico. The report reports that in 2019 there were 828 incidents of violent deaths, with a total of 894 fatalities. Of the total number of violent deaths, 631 were homicides and 229 were suicides. According to the PRVDRS, violent deaths occur primarily by suicide or homicide.

In 2019, 70.6% of victims of violent deaths were reported in single or multiple homicide incidents and 25.6% were suicide incidents. Five homicide-suicide incidents were reported, resulting in 10 fatalities. In addition, during this period, 10 (1.1%) violent deaths attributed to legal intervention (death in which a person is killed or killed by a law enforcement officer acting in the line of duty) and 20 violent deaths with undetermined intent (2.2%) were documented. Deaths with undetermined intent are those that result from the use of force or power, against oneself or another person, in which evidence indicates that one way of death is no more convincing than another form of death, according to the judgment of medico-legal researchers.

In 2019, approximately 9 out of 10 victims of violent deaths (89.7%) were men. The crude homicide rate was 19.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, 38.9 in men and 2.4 in women. The primary mechanism of the homicides was firearms. 91.7% of the 631 homicides are documented as related to the context of community violence. The victims of these incidents are mainly men (n=558, 96.4%), between 15 and 49 years of age (n=497, 89.1%). The most common criminal circumstances of homicides in Puerto Rico are related to illegal drug trafficking and organized crime (53.5%). In Puerto Rico, according to the report, 91.0% of homicides are committed with firearms, more than double the global average of 42.7%.

In 2019, 29 fatal victims of family violence were reported. Most of these cases were related to violence in an intimate or former partner environment (17 cases, 58.6%). While violence between family members (12 cases, 41.4%), occurred mainly during an argument (63.6%). The vast majority of victims of intimate partner violence were women (n= 15, 88.2%). The two main mechanisms of all homicides of intimate partners were firearms (41.2%) and a sharp instrument (35.3%). More than half of these women were victims of their current spouse or partner (53.3%), while 46.7% were victims of their former spouse or former partner. In addition, 5 of the 17 fatal cases of intimate partner violence were homicide-suicide incidents (29.4%).

As for suicides in Puerto Rico, the report highlights that the frequency is lower than that of homicides. However, as in homicides, suicides are more frequent in men (80.8%). In 2019, the crude suicide rate was 7.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, 12.2 in men (1 of 112 men) and 2.6 in women (1 of 494 women). The main mechanism was asphyxiation.

Mariluz Bezares Salinas, manager of statistical projects at the Institute of Statistics and co-principal investigator of the Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico, explained that the collection of this type of data could involve fieldwork that takes more than two years from the time the incident occurs until the collection and review of the data is completed. For his part, Dr. Diego Zavala, epidemiologist and co-principal investigator of the PRVDRS, said that “this system is a reliable, complete and unique reference source that helps describe the context of violent deaths in the victim-aggressor relationship and the magnitude, trend and characteristics of violent deaths in Puerto Rico.”

The PRVDRS is an epidemiological surveillance system affiliated with the Institute of Statistics and designed to obtain a complete and standardized census of violent deaths in Puerto Rico. The PRVDRS began its participation in the National Violent Death Notification System (National Violent Death Reporting System, NVDRS) in September 2016, through a collaborative agreement granted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The 2019 Report on Violent Deaths in Puerto Rico is available through the following link: Puerto Rico Violent Death Notification System.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity tasked with coordinating the government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and accessible quickly and universally.

For technical questions about this report, you can send an email to: preguntas@estadisticas.pr.

To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook accounts (@statistics.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR), Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) and LinkedIn (Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics).

‍

Tool Released to Facilitate Access to Statistics on Passenger and Cargo Movement Through Puerto Rico’s Airports