title: Psychiatric disorder prevalence among deaf and hard-of-hearing outpatients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To contribute to the dearth of literature on the prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders in deaf adults, this study examined the diagnostic and clinical characteristics of deaf psychiatric outpatients in comparison to hearing psychiatric outpatients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Archival clinical data for deaf adults (N=241), treated at a specialized, linguistically and culturally affirmative outpatient community mental health program from 2002 to 2010, was compared to data from a random sample of hearing adult outpatients (N=345) who were treated at the same community mental health center.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In various diagnostic categories, significant differences were seen between the deaf and hearing groups: bipolar disorders (3.7% versus 14.2%), impulse control disorders (15.8% versus 5.2%), anxiety disorders (18.7% versus 30.1%), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (11.2% versus 4.9%), pervasive developmental disorders (3.3% versus 0.3%), substance use disorders (27.8% versus 48.4%), and intellectual disabilities (10.4% versus 2.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The deaf outpatient group evidenced a different diagnostic profile than the hearing sample. It is suggested that the use of culturally competent and fluent ASL-signing clinicians provides more diagnostic clarity and is encouraged as a best practice for the care of deaf individuals.
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Indianapolis, Indiana. Electronic address: drdiaz@iupui.edu.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Landsberger
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Povlinski
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sheward
authors.forename: Charleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sculley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index