Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil

Abstract Individuals with hearing impairments are more vulnerable to depression. According to the 2010 Brazilian Demographic Census, around 10 million people have some degree of hearing impairment. Brazil also ranks highest in depression among middle-income countries. The prevalence of mental health...

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Main Authors: Rafael Rodrigues de Moraes, João Victor Antunes Lopes, Luciana Correia Alves
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Estudos Populacionais 2025-06-01
Series:Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População
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Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-30982025000100152&lng=en&tlng=en
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author Rafael Rodrigues de Moraes
João Victor Antunes Lopes
Luciana Correia Alves
author_facet Rafael Rodrigues de Moraes
João Victor Antunes Lopes
Luciana Correia Alves
author_sort Rafael Rodrigues de Moraes
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Individuals with hearing impairments are more vulnerable to depression. According to the 2010 Brazilian Demographic Census, around 10 million people have some degree of hearing impairment. Brazil also ranks highest in depression among middle-income countries. The prevalence of mental health conditions in the Brazilian hearing-impaired population remains an understudied topic. This study aims to quantify the impact of depression on the life expectancy of the Brazilian population with hearing impairment. We used data from the 2019 edition of the National Health Survey and from the 2010 Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, IBGE) Census to apply the Sullivan method (1971). Our results show that young women with severe hearing impairment are the population group that requires special attention due to the strong effect of depression on life expectancy. It is also possible that men have an underestimated prevalence of depression, which may obscure their years lived without depression. Targeted public policies are recommended to reduce communication barriers between patients, physicians, and other health professionals by promoting fluency in Brazilian Sign Language and knowledge of Deaf culture and their specific needs.
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publisher Associação Brasileira de Estudos Populacionais
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spelling doaj-art-19f685f092054513b0c814a8a8e36bd32025-08-20T02:08:40ZengAssociação Brasileira de Estudos PopulacionaisRevista Brasileira de Estudos de População1980-55192025-06-014210.20947/s0102-3098a0292Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in BrazilRafael Rodrigues de Moraeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5782-3839João Victor Antunes Lopeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1283-7321Luciana Correia Alveshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8598-4875Abstract Individuals with hearing impairments are more vulnerable to depression. According to the 2010 Brazilian Demographic Census, around 10 million people have some degree of hearing impairment. Brazil also ranks highest in depression among middle-income countries. The prevalence of mental health conditions in the Brazilian hearing-impaired population remains an understudied topic. This study aims to quantify the impact of depression on the life expectancy of the Brazilian population with hearing impairment. We used data from the 2019 edition of the National Health Survey and from the 2010 Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, IBGE) Census to apply the Sullivan method (1971). Our results show that young women with severe hearing impairment are the population group that requires special attention due to the strong effect of depression on life expectancy. It is also possible that men have an underestimated prevalence of depression, which may obscure their years lived without depression. Targeted public policies are recommended to reduce communication barriers between patients, physicians, and other health professionals by promoting fluency in Brazilian Sign Language and knowledge of Deaf culture and their specific needs.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-30982025000100152&lng=en&tlng=enDepressionLife expectancyHearing lossSign languagePersons with hearing impairments
spellingShingle Rafael Rodrigues de Moraes
João Victor Antunes Lopes
Luciana Correia Alves
Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil
Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População
Depression
Life expectancy
Hearing loss
Sign language
Persons with hearing impairments
title Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil
title_full Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil
title_fullStr Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil
title_full_unstemmed Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil
title_short Estimating depression-free life expectancy in the hearing-impaired population in Brazil
title_sort estimating depression free life expectancy in the hearing impaired population in brazil
topic Depression
Life expectancy
Hearing loss
Sign language
Persons with hearing impairments
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-30982025000100152&lng=en&tlng=en
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