Health-related quality of life in South African children who use cochlear implants

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes of school-going pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients in a South African cohort from the perspectives of parents and to relate parental ratings of HRQoL to a range of demographic variables. Parents of school-going CI recipients completed the Children with Cochlear Implants:Parental Perspectives (CCIPP) CI specific HRQoL questionnaire. The effect of different demographic variables on HRQoL outcomes was also determined. The study sample included 54 parents of school-going (mean age = 12.2 years; 3.6 SD; range = 6.6-18.3 years) CI recipients with at least six months CI experience.Children's communication and general functioning with a CI received the most positive parental ratings. A number of statistically significant associations between HRQoL outcomes and demographic variables have been confirmed. A mainstream educational setting was associated with better HRQoL outcomes in terms of communication and education, while pre-lingual onset of deafness was associated with better HRQoL outcomes in terms of general functioning and well-being. Shorter duration of deafness and unilateral implantation were associated with higher parental ratings for self-reliance and well-being respectively. Longer duration of CI use was linked to better ratings for general functioning, while shorter duration of CI use was linked to improved ratings for effects of implantation. viii Parents assigned positive ratings to their child's HRQoL. This exploration of children's HRQoL related to their CIs contributes to evidence-based pediatric CI services that support optimal psychosocial outcomes.

Quality of life in children with cochlear implants in Kazakhstan

“…Of note, ‘communication’ and ‘social relations’ also obtained high ratings in past studies assessing HRQoL for children with CIs [ 6 , 8 , 17 , 30 ]. Further direct comparisons of the present study HRQoL subdomains findings with Brewis et al [ 29 ], Byčkova et al [ 20 ], Zhao et al [ 22 ] and Kumar et al (2015) are in Table 6 [ 20 , 22 , 23 , 29 ].…”

“…Further direct comparisons of the present study HRQoL subdomains findings with Brewis et al [ 29 ], Byčkova et al [ 20 ], Zhao et al [ 22 ] and Kumar et al (2015) are in Table 6 [ 20 , 22 , 23 , 29 ].…”

“…In all studies, using the CCIPP questionnaire, the subdomains achieved more than three points and the result was rated as positive [ 7 , 14 , 19 – 23 , 28 , 29 ]. The present study hypothesis that HRQoL subdomains were generally positive was supported (mean ratings for all eight HRQoL = 3.65).…”

“…The HRQoL questionnaire, Children with Cochlear Implants: Parental Perspectives was filled out by the parents/caregivers and had been widely used in the previous studies [ 14 , 19 – 23 , 28 , 29 ]. The Children with Cochlear Implants: Parental Perspectives is a validated, approved, CI-specific, closed-set questionnaire based on parental responses.…”

Cochlear implantation in South Africa (part 2)

“…In general, there are limited published data on cochlear implantation in SA, and national outcome data were published only recently. [47] The limited published reports available on outcomes for paediatric and adult cochlear implantation in SA do, however, indicate positive outcomes for both paediatric [4,6] and adult [5] CI recipients.…”