Depression among Palestinian Deaf Adults: A Cross-sectional Study

Due to lack of attention to mental healthcare services, awareness of the Palestinian population of mental health problems is relatively insufficient. The main objective of this study is to assess the prevalenc of depression symptoms among Palestinian deaf adults. Cross-sectional design and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9 scale) were used to assess the symptoms of depression. The population of the study consisted of 217 adults. After data collection and analysis, the results showed four levels of depression: minimal (OR=2. 0) (95% CI, 1.2-3.4), mild (OR= 1.7) (95% CI, 1.2-2.3) moderate, (OR=1. 4) (95% CI, 1.1-1.9), and severe (OR=0. 9) (95% CI, 0.7-1.2). Depression symptoms were found to be a common health problem among the deaf adult population.