Background and Aim
The birth of a hearing-impaired child and raising him/her often brings special psychological feelings for parents, especially mothers who spend more time with the child. This study aimed to compare the general health status in mothers of hearing-impaired and hearing children.
Methods
This was a descriptive-analytic study. General Health Questionnaire was used to identify general health status; and data were analyzed with independent-t test.
Results
The general health level of mothers of hearing-impaired children was lower than mothers of normal hearing children (p= 0.01). The average scores of anxiety (p= 0.01), depression (p= 0.01) and physical (p= 0.02) symptoms and social function (p= 0.01) of mothers of hearing-impaired children was higher than mothers of normal hearing ones (p= 0.01).
Conclusion
Having a child with hearing impairment affects mothers’ general health status. Our findings show that it’s necessary to provide psychological and social support for mothers of hearingimpaired children.