Journal on Developmental Disabilities
Le journal sur les handicaps du développement

 Volume 10, No. 1 other issues

Hearing Impairment in Adults with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Kevin P. Stoddart, Chris McColl, Catherine Lowe, and Valerie Temple

Abstract

It has been reported that hearing impairment in adults with developmental disabilities is a significant clinical concern. Although the literature primarily reports the incidence of hearing impairment in children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) as opposed to adults with PDD, these reports indicate that rates of loss for this group are greater than in the general population. In this study, adults with PDD were age, gender, and IQ matched to adults with Developmental Disabilities but without PDD (NPDD). The rate of hearing loss in the NPDD group (53.3%) was significantly greater than the rate of loss in the PDD group (21.7%; p=0.001). Significant combined predictors of loss for the PDD group were presence of a psychiatric diagnosis, and suspected loss (p=0.002). These findings have implications for service provision to this specific sub-group of adults with developmental disabilities.

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copyright February, 2005. Ontario Association on Developmental Disabilities.  All rights reserved.