Scientific article: Systematic review comparing the prevalence, incidence, and severity of mental disorders between deaf and hard-of-hearing and hearing adults

Existing systematic research on the difference in prevalence, incidence, and severity of mental disorders between deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) and hearing people has mostly focused on children, adolescents, or older adults, leaving a gap for working-age adults.

This systematic review addresses that gap by synthesising evidence from 60 studies, covering over 8.6 million participants, comparing the prevalence, incidence, and severity of mental disorders between DHH and hearing adults aged 18–60. The majority of studies found higher mental disorder outcomes for DHH adults than for hearing adults, a pattern that held across disorder categories, age groups, outcomes, and risk of bias categories. The largest disparities were found for psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal outcomes. No study reported lower aggregated mental disorder outcomes for DHH adults.

Addressing these disparities requires targeted intervention research, supported by population-based, longitudinal and (quasi-)experimental studies including comprehensive reporting of participant characteristics. This will inform more tailored interventions, improve screening and ultimately contribute to better mental health and quality of life for DHH adults.

Referentie: de Ponti, N., Diehl, K., van Klaveren, C., Cornelisz, I., de Vries, R., Wauters, L., & Heppe, E. (2026). Comparing the prevalence, incidence and severity of mental disorders between deaf and hard-of-hearing and hearing adults aged 18-60: a systematic review. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 35, e15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796026100511