Screening of Psychiatric Disorders among Hearing-Impaired Children and Adolescents Aged 4 - 16 Years Attending Special Education Institutions in Karachi ()
Affiliation(s)
1School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
2Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
3Department of Community Medicine, CMH Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS), Bahawalpur/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
4Department of Family Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
5Department of Psychiatry, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
ABSTRACT
Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric problems and to identify associated factors among hearing-impaired children and adolescents (aged 4 - 16 years) attending special education institutions in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional study, using stratified random sampling was conducted in two special education institutions in Karachi from September 2010 to July 2011 on 272 hearing-impaired children aged 4 - 16 years. Multi-informant rating (responding parent and teacher) was used to assess the prevalence of psychiatric problems on Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Kappa statistic was computed to assess agreement between parents/teachers ratings. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors associated with psychiatric problems of children. Results: An overall parent-rated prevalence of psychiatric problems among hearing-impaired children was estimated as 18% and teacher-rated prevalence as 32.7%; poor inter-rater agreement was found between the two raters (Kappa statistic = 0.09). Multivariate model indicated protective effect of child’s age greater than 6 months at the time of diagnosis AOR: 0.49; 95% CI (0.25, 0.96). Depression among responding parents AOR: 2.61; 95% CI (1.34, 5.11) was identified as a risk factor. Children with good performance AOR: 3.09; 95% CI (1.04, 9.25) and fair/poor performance AOR: 3.43; 95% CI (1.17, 10.04) were more likely to have psychiatric problems compared to children with outstanding/excellent performance. Cronbach’s alpha of 0.71 on overall SDQ indicated an acceptable internal consistency. Conclusion: Awareness programs should be held for parents and teachers for better dealing with hearing-impaired children.
Share and Cite:
Nazar, A. , Mahmud, S. , Jamali, T. , Khuwaja, A. and Asad, N. (2019) Screening of Psychiatric Disorders among Hearing-Impaired Children and Adolescents Aged 4 - 16 Years Attending Special Education Institutions in Karachi.
Open Journal of Epidemiology,
9, 129-143. doi:
10.4236/ojepi.2019.92012.
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