Deaf Mutism Population and Quality of Life Measure for Adolescents with Deaf Mutism in Bengkala Village and Deaf School

Background: Deaf mutism can affect the development of speech, social, cognitive and academic abilities. Adolescence is the stage of life with rapid developmental changes, the concept of quality of life (QoL) is important to understand for adolescents who experience hearing loss because of the importance of communication and social participation in everyday life. Bengkala village in Bali, Indonesia, has a population of deaf mutism of 44 individuals in 3.032 inhabitants or around 1.4%, is caused by recessive gene mutations at the DFNB3 locus. The aim of this study is to find out whether there are differences in the QoL of deaf mutism adolescents in Bengkala and deaf school as control. Method: This study is an observational analytic study using cross-sectional design. The subjects in this study were deaf mutism adolescents in Bengkala and who attended deaf school as many as 22 people. The Youth Quality of Life Instrument – Deaf and Hard of Hearing (YQOL-DHH) questionnaire was filled in with three domains, namely self-acceptance, stigma and participation. Results: From the results of the independent t-test, the average QoL based on self-acceptance in Bengkala was 129.8 ± 2.5 while in deaf school was 88.7 ± 15.1. The mean QoL based on stigma in Bengkala was 35.1 ± 6.6 while in deaf school was 38.2 ± 4.2. The mean QoL based on participation in Bengkala was 68.9 ± 2.6 while in deaf school was 55.6 ± 10.0. Conclusion: The quality of life of adolescents with deaf mutism in Bengkala village and deaf school based on of selfacceptance and participation found significant differences with significance values, while stigma was not statistically significant.