Advantages and disadvantages expected and realized by pediatric cochlear implant recipients as reported by their parents.

Abstract

Studies documenting subjective changes in quality of life of pediatric cochlear implant recipients are limited. In this study, parents of cochlear implant recipients completed a questionnaire requesting them to list advantages and disadvantages associated with their children's cochlear implant use. Preimplantation, benefits expected by parents included awareness of environmental sounds (89% of parents), improved speech perception (50%), and improved speech production (36%). Disadvantages expected included equipment maintenance and repair (21% of parents), slow progression of auditory and speech skills (21%), and resistance to wearing the device (18%). One year postimplantation, benefits reported by parents included environmental sound perception (76% of parents), speech perception (64%), and speech production (52%). Two years postimplantation, benefits reported by parents included perception of environmental sounds (76% of parents), speech perception (67%), and speech production (57%). Three years postimplantation, benefits reported included perception of environmental sounds (61% of parents), speech perception (78%), and speech production (74%). Postimplantation, 36%, 24%, and 52% of the parents had no disadvantages to report at the 1, 2, and 3-year intervals, respectively. At all postimplant intervals, disadvantages associated with the size and maintenance of equipment were listed most frequently (36%, 48%, and 22% of parents, respectively). Open-ended questionnaires may be useful when evaluating a child before or after cochlear implantation.