Psychopathology among a sample of hearing impaired adolescents

• There was a higher prevalence of psychopathology among the hearing impaired adolescents.
• Generalized anxiety and depression were the most common form of psychopathology diagnosed.
• Hearing impaired adolescents were at a lower educational level compared to hearing adolescents of the same age.
• Use of teacher and a sign language translator in the interaction with hearing impaired adolescents.

Hearing impairment is a recognized cause of emotional and psychological disturbances worldwide, however little is known about this condition in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to compare the prevalence of psychopathology between hearing impaired adolescents and healthy adolescents. Students attending two special schools for the hearing impaired were assessed for psychopathology with the help of a trained signer and their teacher, using the International Classification of Diseases Diagnostic Criteria (ICD 10). Fifty two hearing impaired students and 52 age and sex matched controls from the same school were also interviewed using the same instrument. The mean age of the hearing impaired students was 16 (sd = 3.8), while for the controls the mean age was 16 (sd = 2.5). Psychopathology was present in 10 (19%) of the hearing impaired adolescents compared to 2 (4%) among the control group, this difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 4.62 p = 0.03). The most common diagnosis was generalized anxiety disorder 4 (8%), followed by depression 2 (4%). Years spent in school (t = 4.81, p = 0.001), primary guardian (χ2 = 18.3, p = 0.001) and mean income of guardian (t = 7.10, p = 0.001) were all significantly different between the two groups. Psychopathology is relatively common in this population. Proper assessment and treatment should be made available for this population group. A limitation to this study is communication difficulty which made only a third party assessment possible; this may affect the generalizability of the findings.