engleski

Parental estimation of cochlear implantation outcomes in children operated in optimal vs. school age

The importance of age at implantation on hearing and speech development in prelingually deaf children is very well known. But there is also huge range of possible outcomes and numerous factors responsible for that, regardless of age at operation. In children operated beyond optimal age very important is the level of hearing and language skills achieved before implantation. Our survey included children that were preoperatively intensively rehabilitated through verbotonal method (in Croatia there is a long tradition and experience in rehabilitation of hearing impaired children through verbotonal method that emphasizes the importance of listening in speech development). The aim of the survey was to find out the parental estimations of outcomes, benefits, satisfaction and concerns on various aspects of cochlear implantation regarding age of their children at implantation. At the time of the survey there were 273 implanted children in Croatia. A survey was carried out on parents of 100 of them. Children were divided according to the age at implantation in 5 groups (0-2, 2-4, 4- 6, 6-10, <10 years). A questionnaire was performed under the supervision of employees of independent market research agency, and included questions on various aspects of implantation (hearing and speech outcomes, non linguistic benefits, impact on family lives etc.). Parents’ answers indicated high level of open set understanding and intelligible speech in all groups of children, as well as clear non linguistic benefits and huge impact on entire family’s life quality. However, some differences between groups that occurred will be discussed. All groups of children achieved high level of open set understanding, although they also suggest that critical age for achieving it in aurally rehabilitated children operated in non- optimal age is around 10 years. Accordingly, all answers indicated high level of parental satisfaction with listening development and general outcome of CI regardless of the age at implantation. Majority of children had speech intelligible to untrained listeners, but parental satisfaction with speech is slightly lower than with listening skills. However, parents’ answers indicated concern regarding possible device failure, as well as importance of high-quality contacts with manufacturer representatives and service.

cochlear implantation ; parental estimation ; verbotonal method

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