Quality of life for children with cochlear implants: perceived benefits and problems and the perception of single words and emotional sounds.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined children's self-reported quality of life with a cochlear implant as related to children's actual perceptions of speech and the emotional information conveyed by sound. Effects of age at amplification with hearing aids and fitting of cochlear implants on perceived quality of life were also investigated.


METHODS
A self-reported quality of life questionnaire and assessments of speech perception (single words) and emotion identification were administered to a sample of 37 children with cochlear implants who were congenitally deaf, who were 5-14 years of age, and who all used spoken language.


RESULTS
The children reported significant improvement in quality of life because of their cochlear implants, and they also reported low levels of concern about typical problems associated with wearing an implant. The children's perceived quality of life did not significantly predict speech perception performance at the single word level. In contrast, increased quality of life predicted better performance on the emotion identification task. Age at first use of amplification predicted perceived quality of life.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings regarding age reinforce the importance of early detection and intervention for children's positive quality of life with cochlear implants later in childhood.
Schorr
Efrat A
EA
University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. cistudy@yahoo.com
Roth
Froma P
FP
Fox
Nathan A
NA
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003054:Cochlear Implants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology; D003638:Deafness / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013067:Speech Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires