Deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adolescents’ mental health, Quality of Life and communication

BMC Psychiatry

Table 1 Hearing-related characteristics (parent report) for Norwegian DHH and HH children

Variable	DHH n = 41	%	HH n = 45	%
(D)HH parent
Yes / No	7/34	20.6/79.4	5/40	11.1/88.9
Time in deaf school ^a
2–6 weeks a year	30	73.2	6	13.3
> 7 weeks a year	7	20.6	0	0
1–2 days a week ^b	7	20.6	2	4.4
5 days a week	4	9.5	0	0
Aetiology of hearing loss
Acquired	4	9.8	8	17.8
Congenital	36	87.8	33	73.3
Unknown	1	2.4	4	8.9
Missing	0	0	0	0
Degree of hearing loss
Moderate: 40–70 dB	10	24.4	23	51.1
Severe: 71–100 dB	14	34.1	7	15.6
Profound: 101 +	12	29.3	3	6.7
Unknown	5	12.2	9	20
Missing	0	0	3	6.7
Use of hearing aid (Yes / No) ^c
CI	19/22	44.3/53.7	3/42	6.7/93.3
Hearing aid	33/ 8	80.5/19.5	38/7	84.4/15.6
Missing	0	0	0	0
Age at detection
0–2 years	26	63.4	19	42.2
3–5 years	15	36.6	19	42.2
6–12 years	0	0	6	13.3
Unknown	0	0	1	2.2
Preferred language
Oral	21	51.2	40	88.9
Sign	5	12.2	1	2.2
Bilingual	15	39.0	3	6.7
Missing	0	0	1	2.2
Other impairment ^d
Vision	14	34.1	11	24.4
Motor	1	2.4	2	4.4
Learning	4	9.8	4	8.9
Other	8	19.6	4	8.9
Missing	2	4.9	1	2.2

41 of the 59 parents of DHH children completed the parent-report; 9 of the missing parent-reports were due to adolescents aged 16 or older not consenting to their parents’ participation; 45 of the 47 parents of the HH children completed the parent-report on hearing-related characteristics
^a All children attended both mainstream and deaf school
^b Children attending the deaf school for 1–2 days a week combine this with two or more week-long stays during the school year; that is, total number of answers is greater than the number of participants
^c Based on reports of ever having used a hearing aid
^d Some of the children had more than one impairment

ISSN: 1471-244X