Investigating the Relation between Depression and Social Support in Deaf Patients of Special Schools in Ahvaz during 2014-2015
Nader Saki1, Soheila Nikakhlagh1*, Vita Derakhshandeh1 and Yasaman Esfahanian21Department of ENT, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. 2Medical doctor, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
Abstract: According to the world statistics, the prevalence of congenital deafness is one to three cases per thousand babies. If we consider the acquired hearing loss in the years following the birth, these figures will rise. Depression is one of the common disorders associated with the deafness. Adequate social support can greatly reduce the symptoms of depression in patients even with high levels of defects. According to the lack of depression amount and social support investigation in children with deafness, in this study, the depression and social support of the deaf and then the relation between social support and depression in patients with hearing loss were studied. This study was conducted on 114 deaf patients who were selected through a random clustering sampling method from special schools of Ahvaz (Khuzestan, Iran). The sampling was carried out during 2014-2015 and the relevant variables were determined with the social support and depression questionnaire. Finally, the results were analyzed with SPSS software. Depression between male and female deaf patients has not a significant difference with each other (p <0.2). Social support is influenced by gender, so that the social support in deaf male is more than deaf Female. The correlation coefficient between individual’s score in social support tests from family and depression is -0.708 and between individual’s score in social support tests from friends and depression is -0.72 that due to the significant level of 0.0001, the relation between these two variables is meaningful and reverse. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that the rate of depression in deaf patients has a reverse ratio with social support and a difference in terms of gender was not observed in this regard. Paying more attention to the psychological aspects of deaf patients and the impact of social support should be considered in the treatment of depression in deaf patients.
Keywords: Depression; Social support; Deaf patients Back to TOC