In this study socio-demographic, deafness-related and diagnosticcharacteristicsofhearingimpairedchildrenandadolescentsreferred to... Show moreIn this study socio-demographic, deafness-related and diagnosticcharacteristicsofhearingimpairedchildrenandadolescentsreferred to anationalmentalhealthservicefordeafandhardofhearingchildrenandadolescentswere examined. Socio-demographic and diagnosticcharacteristicswere compared to correspondingcharacteristicsofhearingreferred peers with identifiedmentalhealthproblems. The difference incharacteristicsbetween them andhearingreferred peers with identifiedmentalhealthproblems was analyzed. A total of 389deafandhardofhearingand 3361hearingchildrenandadolescentswas extracted from a database, all first referrals of patients of a center for child and adolescent psychiatryovera15-yearperiod. Withdeafandhardofhearingpatients we found higher rates of environmental stress, as indicated by conditions such as more one parent families (38.6% versus 25.8%), and more parents with a low educational level (44.2% versus 31.1%). Moreover,deafandhardofhearingpatients were older at their first referral (10.8 versus 9.4years) and had higher rates of pervasive developmental disorders (23.7% versus 12.3%) andmentalretardation (20.3% versus 3.9%). Within the target group ofdeafandhardofhearingpatients, most patients weredeaf(68.9%; 22.3% was severelyhardofhearing), relatively few (13.7%) had a non-syndromal hereditaryhearingimpairment, and more (21.3%) had a disabling physicalhealthcondition, especially those with a pervasive developmental disorder (42.6%). These findings illustrate both the complexity of the problems ofdeafandhardofhearingchildrenandadolescentsreferred to specialistmentalhealthservices, and the need for preventive interventions aimed at early recognition. Show less
