Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms among HearingImpaired Students of Addis Ababa University: A Cross- sectional Study
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Date
2022-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Introduction: Being Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) has been linked withincreased social isolation, negative self-concept, low perceived competence and
stigma, higher prevalence of physical and sexual abuse among DHH youth andchildren.(Knutson, Johnson, and Sullivan 2004)(Mekonnen et al. 2016). This alcan predispose DHH individuals to depressive disorders. Furthermore, thcommunication barriers create a challenge in the evaluation and treatment omental health conditions of DHH individuals.
Objective: The study aims to study the prevalence of depressive symptomamong hearing impaired students in AAU.
Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study was done to assess thprevalence of depressive symptoms in all DHH students of Addis Abab
University (AAU) from August 9- October 11, 2021 using the Patient HealthQuestionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Data cleaning and analysis with descriptive statisticwere done using SPSS version 26.
Results; 138 out of 142 students responded to the study. The prevalence odepressive symptoms was found to be 42%. The severity level of depression
based on the PHQ-9 scoring was found to be 1.4%, 26.8%, 9.4% and 4.3% fominimal, mild, moderate and severe depressive symptoms
Conclusion; The prevalence of depressive symptoms is higher than thresults of hearing students done at Addis Ababa, Debrebirhan, Haramaya and
Jimma Universities. This study calls for having further studies to know more
about the mental health service needs of DHH individuals.
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Keywords
Depressive Symptoms,Hearing-Impaired Students