Mental Health and Psychological Impact on Students with or without Hearing Loss during the Recurrence of the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

Abstract

Background: This study compares the mental health and psychological response of students with or without hearing loss during the recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, the capital of China. It explores the relevant factors affecting mental health and provides evidence-driven strategies to reduce adverse psychological impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used the Chinese version of depression, anxiety, and stress scale 21 (DASS-21) to assess the mental health and the impact of events scale—revised (IES-R) to assess the COVID-19 psychological impact. Results: The students with hearing loss are frustrated with their disability and particularly vulnerable to stress symptoms, but they are highly endurable in mitigating this negative impact on coping with their well-being and responsibilities. They are also more resilient psychologically but less resistant mentally to the pandemic impacts than the students with normal hearing. Their mental and psychological response to the pandemic is associated with more related factors and variables than that of the students with normal hearing is. Conclusions: To safeguard the welfare of society, timely information on the pandemic, essential services for communication disorders, additional assistance and support in mental counseling should be provided to the vulnerable persons with hearing loss that are more susceptible to a public health emergency.

COVID-19 depression and its risk factors in Asia Pacific – A systematic review and meta-analysis

“… Chen et al, 2021 ), ( Fang et al, 2021 ), ( Fukase et al, 2021 ), ( Gotlib et al, 2021 ), ( Hammond et al, 2021 ), ( Hao et al, 2021 ), ( Hazarika et al, 2021 ), ( Kibbey et al, 2020 ), ( Liu et al, 2020 ), ( Mistry et al, 2021 ), ( Nishimura et al, 2021 ), ( Robillard et al, 2021 ), ( Sakib et al, 2021 ), ( Suzuki et al, 2021 ), ( Tsang et al, 2021 ), (Y. Wang et al, 2021 ), ( Wong et al, 2021 ), ( Yang et al, 2021 ), ( Young et al, 2021 ) Age 20 7.91 ( An et al, 2021 ), ( Cheema et al, 2021 ), ( Fukase et al, 2021 ), ( Glenister et al, 2021 ), ( Kar et al, 2021 ), ( Kar et al, 2021 ), ( Rashid et al, 2021 ), ( Kim et al, 2021 ), ( Matsumoto et al, 2021 ), ( Nkire et al, 2021 ), ( Robillard et al, 2021 ), ( Rossell et al, 2021 ), (Song et al, 2021), ( Tang et al, 2021 ), ( Turna et al, 2021 ), ( Veldhuis et al, 2021 ), ( Wong et al, 2021 ), ( Yan et al, 2021 ), ( Yang et al, 2021 ), ( Yunus et al, 2020 ) Income disruption/ financial restraints 19 7.51 (Xi an Chen et al, 2021 ), ( Cheng et al, 2021 ), ( Devkota et al, 2021 ), ( Fukase et al, 2021 ), ( ...…”

“… Liu et al, 2021 ), ( Parthasarathy et al, 2021 ), ( Perera et al, 2021 ) Maritial status 7 2.77 ( Fukase et al, 2021 ), ( Hazarika et al, 2021 ), ( Rashid et al, 2021 ), (Yu an Liu et al, 2021 ), ( Sakib et al, 2021 ), ( Veldhuis et al, 2021 ), ( Yan et al, 2021 ) Education level 7 2.77 ( Fang et al, 2021 ), ( Guo et al, 2021 ), ( Kar et al, 2021 ), ( Kim et al, 2021 ), ( Liu et al, 2020 ), (Song et al, 2021), ( Yan et al, 2021 ) Lack of outdoor activity/exercise 7 2.77 (Xu Chen et al, 2021 ), ( Chi et al, 2021 ), ( Dun et al, 2021 ), ( Faro et al, 2021 ), ( Suzuki et al, 2021 ), (R. K. Yadav et al, 2021 ), ( Yasmin et al, 2021 ) Disruption of education 7 2.77 (Xu Chen et al, 2021 ), ( Chi et al, 2021 ), ( Gotlib et al, 2021 ), (Y. Liu et al, 2021 ), ( Ma et al, 2021 ), ( Nishimura et al, 2021 ), (Yunus et al, 2021) Information overload & reliability 7 2.77 ( Crowe et al, 2021 ), ( Gotlib et al, 2021 ), ( Guo et al, 2021 ), ( Hammond et al, 2021 ), ( Hong et al, 2021 ), ( Hou et al, 2021 ), ( Yang et al, 2021 ) ...…”

“… Chen et al, 2021 ), Chowetal2021, (Feng et al, 2021), ( Kar et al, 2021 ), (Song et al, 2021), (H. Wang et al, 2021 ) Inadequate medical resource & attention (PPE/other medical resource) 6 2.37 ( Barua et al, 2020 ), ( Hammond et al, 2021 ), ( Pandey et al, 2021 ), ( Sakib et al, 2021 ), ( Suzuki et al, 2021 ), ( Young et al, 2021 ) Sleep disturbance/ insomnia 6 2.37 ( Barua et al, 2020 ), (Xu Chen et al, 2021 ), ( Khoury et al, 2021 ), (S. Liu et al, 2021 ), (Y. Liu et al, 2021 ), ( Wang Liu et al, 2021 ) Lack of education/awareness towards COVID 5 1.98 ( Cheema et al, 2021 ), ( Cheng et al, 2021 ), ( Faisal et al, 2021 ), ( Hazarika et al, 2021 ), ( Yang et al, 2021 ) Being HCW 4 1.58 (Huang et al, 2021), ( Kar et al, 2021 ), ( Liu et al, 2021 ), ( Matsumoto et al, 2021 ) Job burnout 4 1.58 (J. Chen et al, 2021 ), ( He et al, 2021 ), ( Rashid et al, 2021 ), ( Young et al, 2021 ) Others 21 8.32 ( An et al, 2021 ) (Yu an Liu et al, 2021 ), ( Robillard et al, 2021 ), ( Suzuki et al, 2021 ), ( Cheema et al, 2021 ), ( Glenister et al, 2021 ), ( …”

Impact of Sensorineural Hearing Loss during the Pandemic of COVID-19 on the Appearance of Depressive Symptoms, Anxiety and Stress

“…The first scale is about depression: dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, selfdeprecation, lack of interest/involvement, anhedonia and inertia. ( Items 3,5,10,13,16,17,21). The second scale is about anxiety: autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety and subjective experience of anxious affect.…”

“…Fear and anxiety develop as adaptive reactions to uncertainty and impending danger which are present in the COVID-19 pandemic [12]. Protective measures such as face masks and physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic can further exacerbate the symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression in people with sensorineural hearing loss [13]. When the interlocutor is wearing a protective face mask, communication can be significantly more difficult for a person with impaired hearing because the interlocutor's voice is less audible in certain frequencies [14,15].…”