title: Deafblindness: a review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Deafblindness or dual sensory loss is a rare condition among young people, but more frequent among older people. Deafblindness is a heterogeneous condition that varies with regard to time of onset and degree of vision and hearing impairment, as well as communication mode, medical aetiology, and number and severity of co-morbidity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a comprehensive review of public health issues related to deafblindness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Deafblindness often lead to barriers in language and communication, access to information and social interaction, which can lead to a number of health-related difficulties. Some of the reported consequences are a higher risk of depression, cognitive decline, developmental disorder in children and psychological distress.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Deafblindness is associated with a number of health-related issues and more knowledge is needed about the impact of dual sensory loss to be able to offer the best support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark jesper.dammeyer@psy.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dammeyer
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D054062:Deaf-Blind Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans
keywords: Blindness; deafblindness; deafness; depression; disability; dual sensory loss; review; sensory deprivation; stress