Suicidal Behavior Among the Youth With and Without Sensory Impairment: Prevalence and Comparison

Abstract

This comparative survey was conducted to explore the prevalence of suicidal behavior among the youth without sensory impairment (<i>n</i> = 595) as well as youth with sensory impairment: visual impairment (<i>n</i> = 537) and hearing impairment (<i>n</i> = 535). Suicidal behavior of the participants were assessed by the Urdu form of Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire. Findings indicated the higher prevalence of overall suicidal behavior among the participants with visual impairment (38%) as compared with the participants with (32%) and the youth (13%) without sensory impairment. Odds ratios further confirmed these results by showing the participants with visual impairment higher on suicidal behavior. Moreover access to counseling, monthly income of the parents, and severity level of disability appeared to be positive predictors of suicidal behavior among the participants. Thus, results showed that all of the three groups are at the risk of having suicidal behavior and, therefore, careful measures are required to be taken at prevention and intervention levels.