A study of self-perception and communication success as perceived by adolescents with cochlear implants and their significant others.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this prospective, cross-sectional study were to compare self-perception and communication-success ratings of adolescents with cochlear implant (AWCI) and their caregivers (C-AWCI) and to explore associations with age at CI, implant age, and chronological age. METHOD: Fourteen CI centers across India participated. The Think About it Quiz (TAIQ), Self Assessment of Communication-Adolescent (SAC-A), and Significant Other Assessment of Communication-Adolescent (SOAC-A) were translated into five languages. Data were collected from 173 AWCI aged 10;0-19;6 years and an associated caregiver for each participant. RESULTS: On the TAIQ, self-ratings by AWCI were significantly lower than the ratings by C-AWCI. Peer acceptance correlated with athletic competence for both groups. For the SAC-A versus SOAC-A, there was no significant difference between AWCI and C-AWCI ratings. Except for a negative correlation between peer-acceptance and chronological age for caregiver ratings, no other associations were found between any other ratings and age at CI, implant age, and chronological age. CONCLUSIONS: Caregiver judgments of their adolescents with CI were not in equal agreement with self-ratings by the adolescents across various aspects of performance. Caregivers appeared to underestimate the self-perception issues faced by adolescents with CI but had excellent agreement with their adolescents' self-rating of communication success. The inclusion of activities to improve children's participation in sports could possibly improve peer acceptance.

Pediatric Cochlear Implantation-Why the Delay.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the factors that act as barriers and delay the process of cochlear implantation in children with congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss. This is a cross sectional observational study in which 154 children with profound sensorineural deafness attending ENT outdoor from Jan 2013 to June 2014 at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical College and PG Institute, Indore, were included in the study. Information was taken from the parents of the candidates regarding the reasons for the delay in reporting, the delay in intervention and a detailed history was also taken to evaluate the possible reason for the hearing loss with the help of open ended questions. The most common cause for the delay in reporting was lack of information about the availability of technique and procedure for cochlear implant. Financial constrain was the most common cause for the delay in getting the cochlear implant surgery.