Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to explore the need for psychological rehabilitation of persons with hearing loss or acquired deafness. Participants were 181 adults with hearing impairments (60 males, 121 females; average age, 54.9 years). The average age of onset of hearing impairment was 25.4 years. Participants' mental health was assessed with the Japanese version of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), on which higher scores indicate lower levels of mental health. The average score in the present study was 8.86; 53% of participants had the possibility of neurosis. Both these results are significantly higher than the scores of populations without disabilities, that is, in other words, the participants were less mentally healthy than average. Neither age at onset of impairment nor length of time since then was found to correlate with the General Health Questionnaire scores, and no significant correlation was found between the degree of hearing impairment and the Questionnaire scores. The results suggest that psychological support is necessary for people with hearing impairments, regardless of the degree of disability. Participants reported that, in addition to hearing impairments, they had symptoms such as tinnitus (81.6% of participants), aural pressure (52.8%), distortion of sound (62.6%), dizziness (44.8%), and verbal disability (37.4%). The occurrence of dizziness, tinnitus, or verbal disability was correlated with significantly increased General Health Questionnaire scores.
