Comparing the Mental Health of the Athletic and Non-Athletic Sensory-Disabled People

Several studies examined the mental health of athletes and non-athletes, However, There are limited information on the mental health of athletes and non-athletes with sensory disabilities. So, the aim of this study was to compare the mental health of athletes and non-athletes with sensory disabilities.
The sample population was 120 (30 blind athlete, 30 blind non-athletes, 30 deaf athlete and 30 deaf non-athletes) male sensory disabled people from the city of Tehran, who were selected by Convenience sampling.The measuring instrument of the study was GHQ-28 Questionnaire (MHQ) which includes 4 sub-scales of mental health. The collected data were analyzed using Manvitney U test and T-student test.
The results of the study indicated that there is a significant difference between mental health and sub-scales of somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia and severe depression in athletes and non-athletes sensory disabled people (p The results of this study indicated that the mental health of the sensory disabled athletes people were better than those of the sensory disabled non-athletes. Therefore it seems necessary that sports and physical activities be more attended in the daily schedule of disabled people.