Assessment of Depressive Symptoms in Deaf Persons

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Figure 1.
Scatterplot of ZSDS scores versus HAM-D scores.
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Figure 2.
HAM-D and ZSDS-W scores by literacy level.

Table 1.

Sample Characteristics (n = 71)

	Percentage or Mean ± SD	Median (and/or range)
Age in years	52 ± 16	(20–89)
Gender (female)	63%
Ethnic/racial minority	5%
Marital status
Married	47%
D&HH spouse	87%
Education
<10th grade	20%
College degree	30%
Employment status
Employed	50%
Full-time	83%
Household income (mean)	$25,000	($5,000–$80,000)
Age of Onset of Hearing Loss
<1 year	50%
≥1 year	50%
Member of the Deaf community	76%
Language use (multiple answers were possible)
At home
ASL	70%
Signed contact language	31%
Signed English	17%
Written English	14%
English speech only	30%
With people who are D&HH
ASL	74%
Signed contact language	22%
Signed English	21%
With people who are hearing
Spoken English	36%
Written English	33%
English with interpreter	28%

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics for Study Measures

Measure	Mode of Administration	Mean ± SD	Range
Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS-W)	Written	39.3 ± 10.2	20–59
Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS-S)	Signed	36.5 ± 10.8	20–60
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D)	Signed	9.3 ± 5.9	0–21
Test of Reading Comprehension (TORC)	Written	6.8 ± 3.4	2.2–16.0