{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T01:03:52Z","timestamp":1782263032843,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,28]],"date-time":"2021-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1632787200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed radical behavioral and social changes in the general population, significantly impacting the lives of individuals affected by disabilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on non-institutionalized subjects with sensorineural disabilities during the first COVID-19 wave in Italy. Methods. A 39-item online national survey was disseminated from 1 April 2020 to 31 June 2020 via social media throughout Italy to communities of individuals with proven severe sensorineural disabilities, affiliated to five national patient associations. The survey collected extensive information on the socio-demographic profile, health, everyday activities, and lifestyle of individuals with hearing and visual disabilities. Results. One hundred and sixty-three respondents with hearing (66.9%) and visual (33.1%) disabilities returned a usable questionnaire. The mean age of interviewees was 38.4 \u00b1 20.2 years and 56.3% of them were females. Despite the vast majority of respondents (77.9%) perceiving their health status as unchanged (68.8% of interviewees with hearing deficits vs. 96.3% of those with visual impairments), about half the interviewees reported sleep disorders during lock-down, more likely those with visual deficits. Remote services were seemingly more effective for business than school activities. Furthermore, although just 18.8% of respondents rated remote rehabilitation care unsatisfactory, only 12.8% of interviewees felt supported by health and social services during the COVID-19 emergency. The vast majority of respondents were concerned about the future and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 contagion, particularly individuals with hearing impairments. Among the various risk mitigation measures, facemasks caused the greatest discomfort due to communication barriers, particularly among interviewees affected by hearing disabilities (92.2% vs. 45.7%). The most common request (46.5%) of respondents to reduce the inconveniences of the COVID-19 emergency was improving the access to and delivery of health and social services for individuals with sensorineural disabilities (19.3%), followed by the use of transparent masks (17.5%). Conclusions. Although health protection measures such as face masks and social distancing play a key role in preventing and controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the unmet needs of disabled individuals should be carefully considered, especially those affected by sensory disabilities. Tailored access to health and social services for individuals affected by sensorineural disabilities should be implemented. Additional actions should include the use of face shields as a valid alternative to face masks to reduce communication barriers linked to hearing-impairment, as well as the improvement of remote services, especially distance learning at school.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph181910208","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,28]],"date-time":"2021-09-28T12:29:14Z","timestamp":1632832154000},"page":"10208","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["The Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with Hearing and Visual Disabilities during the First Pandemic Wave in Italy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7022-4083","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luciano","family":"Bubbico","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sensorineural Disabilities, INAPP\/Italian Institute of Social Medicine, 00198 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4119-0803","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saverio","family":"Bellizzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Epidemiologist, Independent Consultant, 1200 Geneva, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7136-9698","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salvatore","family":"Ferlito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Medical Sciences and Advanced Technologies, University of Catania School of Medicine, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1251-0185","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonino","family":"Maniaci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Medical Sciences and Advanced Technologies, University of Catania School of Medicine, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raffaella","family":"Leone Guglielmotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Auximon Trainig Institute for Transactional Analysis, 00197 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giulio","family":"Antonelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Department of Neurosciences, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Mastrangelo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences & Public Health, Padua University, 35122 Padua, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6285-7355","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Cegolon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health Department, Local Health Unit N.2 \u201cMarca Trevigiana\u201d, 31100 Treviso, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijid.2020.01.009","article-title":"The Continuing 2019-nCoV Epidemic. 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