Serious Life Events in People with Visual Impairment Versus the General Population

Audun Brunes and Trond Heir
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Audun Brunes: Section for Trauma, Catastrophes and Forced Migration—Adults and Elderly, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, 0484 Oslo, Norway
Trond Heir: Section for Trauma, Catastrophes and Forced Migration—Adults and Elderly, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, 0484 Oslo, Norway

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-9

Abstract: The present study aimed to examine the lifetime exposure to serious life events in people with visual impairment compared with the general population. Data were derived from a telephone survey including a probability sample of 736 adults with visual impairment (response rate: 61%). The lifetime prevalence of direct experiences with seventeen different categories of serious life events (Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5)) were compared to that obtained from the general Norwegian population ( N = 1792, 36% response rate). Altogether, 68% of people with visual impairment had been directly exposed to at least one serious life event, with equal rates among males and females ( p = 0.59). The prevalence of serious life events was higher than for the general population (60%, p < 0.001), especially for fire or explosions, serious accidents, sexual assaults, life-threatening illness or injury, and severe human suffering. In conclusion, our results indicate that people with visual impairment are more prone to experiencing serious life events. This highlights the need for preventive strategies that reduce the risk of serious life events in this population.

Keywords: accidents; blindness; assaults; prevention; serious life events; visual impairment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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