Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

An innovative and reliable way of measuring health-related quality of life and mental distress in the deaf community

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Structured assessment of quality of life and mental distress in deaf people is difficult for various reasons. This paper describes the development and reliability of an interactive computer-based assessment package for measuring quality of life and psychological distress in the deaf population.

Methods

The Brief version of the WHO Quality of Life (WHOQOL) Questionnaire, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) had been translated into sign-language and videotaped. A total of 236 members of the deaf community in Upper Austria participated by responding to a programme consisting of self-administered written and videotaped test-items presented to them on a notebook computer. The reliability of the various assessments was established on this large community sample.

Results

When reliability of the versions for the deaf was compared with that of written versions of the same measures in general population samples, it was found to be somewhat lower, although still in an acceptable range, for the WHO-QOL and the GHQ-12. For the BSI, the reliability was even higher than that of the general population.

Conclusions

For deaf individuals whose preferred communication is sign language, quality of life and mental distress can be effectively and reliably assessed with the use of carefully translated and adapted common instruments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Angermeyer MC, Kilian R, Matschinger H (2000) WHOQOL-100 und WHOQOL-BREF. Handbuch für die deutschsprachige Version der WHO Instrumente zur Erfassung der Lebensqualität. Göttingen

  2. Derogatis LR, Spencer PM (1982) Brief symptom inventory: Administration, scoring and procedures manual I. Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  3. Franke HG (2000) BSI-Brief Symptom Inventory von Derogatis LR (Kurzform der SCL-90-R)-Deutsche Version. Manual, Beltz Test GmbH, Göttingen

  4. Gelter I (1987) Wortschatz und Lesefähigkeit gehörloser Schüler. Der Sprachheilpädagoge 3:37–42

    Google Scholar 

  5. Goldberg DP, Williams PA (1988) User’s Guide to the GHQ. Windsor. NFER Nelson

  6. Holt JA (1994) Stanford Achievement Test, 8th ed: reading comprehension subgroup results. Am Ann Deaf 138:172–175

    Google Scholar 

  7. Katschnig H, Ladinser E, Scherer M, Sonneck G, Wancata J (2001) Österreichischer Psychiatriebericht 2001: Teil 1, Daten zur psychiatrischen und psychosozialen Versorgung der österreichischen Bevölkerung. Bundesministerium für soziale Sicherheit und Generationen, Wien

  8. Linden M, Maier W, Achberger M, Herr R, Helmchen H, Benkert O (1996) Psychische Erkrankungen und ihre Behandlung in Allgemeinpraxen in Deutschland. Nervenarzt 67:205–215

    Google Scholar 

  9. Lipton DS, Goldstein MF, Fahnbulleh FW, Gertz EN (1997) The interactive video questionnaire. A new technology for interviewing deaf persons. Am Ann Deaf 141(5):370–378

    Google Scholar 

  10. Schein JD (1979) Multiply handicapped hearing impaired children. In: Bradford LJ, Hardy WG (eds) Hearing and hearing impairment. New York: Grune and Stratton

    Google Scholar 

  11. Schmitz N, Kruse J, Tress W (1999) Psychometric properties of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in a German primary care sample. Acta Psychiatr Scand 100(6) :462–468

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Steinberg AG, Lipton DS, Eckhardt EH, Goldstein M, Sullivan JV (1998) The diagnostic interview schedule for deaf patients on interactive video: preliminary investigation. Am J Psychiatry 155(11):1603–1604

    Google Scholar 

  13. The WHOQOL Group (1998) Devolopment of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychol Med 28:551–558

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Üstun TB, Satorius N (1995) Mental Illness in General Health Care. An international Study. Chichester: John Wiley

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johannes Fellinger MD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fellinger, J., Holzinger, D., Dobner, U. et al. An innovative and reliable way of measuring health-related quality of life and mental distress in the deaf community. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 40, 245–250 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-005-0862-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-005-0862-9

Key words

Navigation