Comparing 127 individuals with deaf-blind (Group DB) and 2482 individuals with only hard of hearing (Group HH), I analyzed their social participation rates by considering their hearing levels, speech discrimination scores, family backgrounds, ages, and given diagnoses. The main results were as follows : (a) The social participation rate in Group DB was found to be significantly lower than that in Group HH. (b) The speech discrimination score had a significant effect on the social participation rates in both groups. Furthermore, the poor ability in speech discrimination was more detrimental for Group DB than for Group HH. (c) Individuals above 65 years old showed smaller rates of social participation than individuals under 65 years old in both groups.