Symptoms of anxiety disorders in Iranian adolescents with hearing loss during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Anxiety symptoms have been reported in many populations during the COVID-19 pandemic, but not in adolescents with a hearing loss. This study aimed to investigate the presence of symptoms of anxiety disorders (ADs) in adolescents with hearing loss (HL) during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020. METHODS: In this cross sectional study, 56 adolescents with HL (aged 12 to 18 years) including 23 deaf, and 33 hard of hearing (HH) were selected from four counties located in western Iran using a census method. Adolescents with HL filled out the self-report of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). RESULTS: The results showed that the presence of symptoms of ADs in adolescents with HL was 37.5%, and higher in deaf than in HH adolescents (60.9% in deaf vs. 21.2% in HH, p = 0.003). Among the subscales, only the Social Anxiety Disorder (39.1% in deaf vs. 90.1 in HH, p = 0.009) and the School Avoidance (52.2% in deaf vs. 24.2% in HH, p = 0.031) significantly differed. The mean score of Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Anxiety Disorders in the deaf adolescents were higher than in HH ones. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed the presence of significant symptoms of ADs in a sample of Iranian adolescents with HL, especially in deaf adolescents, during the COVID-19 pandemic.