title: Psychological general well-being (quality of life) in patients with cochlear implants: importance of social environment and age.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the variables that affect psychological general well-being (quality of life) in patients with cochlear implants (CIs). The study sample consists of 96 adult patients with a CI, aged 24 86 years (Mean = 61.8 yrs; SD = 15.3 yrs). 48 were patients from the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden and 48 were patients from the University of Florida, USA. The Psychological General Well-being Index and the International Outcome Inventory-Cochlear implants were used in collecting data. Possible independent variables were socioeconomic factors such as age, gender, nationality, living arrangement, education, and social support; as well as length of time since implantation, age when hearing loss became a problem, and subjective benefit of the CI. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that 49% of the variance was explained by attitudes from others, restricted social participation, perceived social support and age.
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Health Sciences, Halmstad university, Halmstad, Sweden. Lillemor.Hallberg@hos.hh.se
authors.forename: L R-M
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Hallberg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ringdahl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carver
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003054:Cochlear Implants / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden