title: A prospective study evaluating cochlear implant management skills: development and validation of the Cochlear Implant Management Skills survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the ability of cochlear implant (CI) recipients to physically handle and care for their hearing implant device(s) and to identify factors that may influence skills. To assess device management skills, a clinical survey was developed and validated on a clinical cohort of CI recipients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey development and validation. A prospective convenience cohort design study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Specialist hearing implant clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-nine post-lingually deafened, adult CI recipients, at least 12 months postoperative.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey test-retest reliability, interobserver reliability and responsiveness. Correlations between management skills and participant demographic, audiometric, clinical outcomes and device factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Cochlear Implant Management Skills survey was developed, demonstrating high test-retest reliability (0.878), interobserver reliability (0.972) and responsiveness to intervention (skills training) [t(20) = -3.913, P = 0.001]. Cochlear Implant Management Skills survey scores range from 54.69% to 100% (mean: 83.45%, sd: 12.47). No associations were found between handling skills and participant factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to demonstrate a range in cochlear implant device handling skills in CI recipients and offers clinicians and researchers a tool to systematically and objectively identify shortcomings in CI recipients' device handling skills.
authors.affiliation: Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia.|Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.affiliation: Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia.|Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: D M P
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Jayakody
authors.affiliation: Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia.|Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.|Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Eikelboom
authors.affiliation: Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia.|Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.|Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Taljaard
authors.affiliation: Ear Science Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia.|Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Atlas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001299:Audiometry; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires