To Örebro University

 Background: Problematic gambling is a public health problem. Deaf and hearing-impaired young people are a high-risk group regarding health and lifestyles. There are indications that young people with disabilities gamble to a greater extent than adolescents without disabilities. Whether this applies specifically to the group deaf and hearing-impaired adolescents is a knowledge gap. This pilot study aims to investigate the prevalence and type of gambling problems in deaf students (16-19 years old) and to identify the group's risk and protective factors for problematic gambling.

Methods: Data from the study Life & Health -Young People conducted in Örebro County, Sweden 2014 was used. This is a total, cross-sectional survey of young people's living conditions, lifestyles and health.  Students in grade 2 (17-18 years old) in upper secondary school were included in this study (n=2468, 75% response rate). A systematic search has also been conducted.

Results: A systematic search of the literature of problem gambling in the hard-of-hearing group reveals that this is an un-researched area. This could be one of the first studies researching gambling problems in this particular target group. Around 17 % of the total sample has gambled for money several times a month. Almost 8 % of this sample has some type of hard-of-hearing. The first results indicate that the hard-of-hearing group is gambling for money to a higher extent than normal hearing students.

Conclusions: There is a need to increase knowledge about gambling and problematic gambling in deaf and hearing-impaired adolescents. Knowledge about gambling in this target group will lay the foundation for the development of methods to counteract gambling problems which could improve the health within this high-risk group.

Main messages: There is a lack of research on problem gambling in the hard-of-hearing group.

There are indications that the hard-of-hearing group gambles for money to a higher extent than others young people.