Cochlear Implants Offer Kids A Gift Beyond Hearing

February 18, 2009
Cochlear Implants Offer Kids A Gift Beyond Hearing

Children with cochlear implants in the 4-to-7 age group rated their physical, social and emotional quality of life higher than their parents did.

(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, hearing scientists have known that cochlear implants improve the communication of children who receive them. What they didn’t know was whether the children and their parents perceived an improvement in their overall quality of life.

Now a study by researchers at the UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders and their colleagues with the Dallas Cochlear Implant Program (DCIP) is revealing interesting differences among younger and older children with cochlear implants on their quality of life.

In the study, “Health-Related Quality of Life in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users,” the researchers identified, recruited and interviewed about 150 children ranging in age from 4 to 16 years. Their parents and a control group of children who were the same age but without hearing loss also participated in the study.

The research focused on three age groups: ages 4 to 7 years; 8 to 11 years; and 12 to 16 years.

The children in the 4-to-7 age group rated their physical, social and emotional quality of life higher than their parents did and at the same level as same-age children without hearing loss.

“What is very interesting about this group,” said Dr. Andrea Warner-Czyz, research associate in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, “is that the children would have a puzzled look on their face when we asked questions about their cochlear implant. They don’t call the device a cochlear implant. Instead, the parents and children refer to it as their ‘ears.’”

The 8-to-12 age group also reported a positive quality of life. “Most of them have had their cochlear implants longer than the younger-age group, and we have found that the duration of implant use has a positive effect on a child’s perceived quality of life,” said Dr. Betty Loy, special assistant to the DCIP board of directors, who initiated the quality-of-life study because she wanted to learn how the children felt about themselves and how the parents thought their children felt about themselves.

For the 12-to-16 age group, a significant difference between the parents and children with hearing loss was that the parents viewed their child’s quality of life - when at school - as being better than the child perceived it.

“The parents are excellent reporters of how their children feel when they are around them,” said Loy. “But when the kids are by themselves at school, they don’t feel as good about themselves as the parents thought. We can only speculate why this occurs.”

The researchers have presented the data at conferences in Colorado, California, North Carolina and Australia. They will also present their findings at the upcoming American Academy of Audiology convention in Dallas in April.

Research participants are currently being recruited for Step Two of the study. The researchers are developing a quality-of-life questionnaire that will focus solely on cochlear implants.

Provided by University of Texas at Dallas


Rank 3 /5 (1 vote)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Overeating may double risk of memory loss

New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 5 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor

(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.

Medicine & Health / Health

created 5 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV

A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created 3 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (56) | comments 15 | with audio podcast

Green tea found to reduce disability in the elderly

(Medical Xpress) -- A lot of research has been done over the past several years looking into the health benefits of green tea. As a result, scientists have found that regular consumption of the beverage leads ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (15) | comments 10 | with audio podcast report


Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...

New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside

There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...

Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact

Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.

A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell

Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...

Researchers find extensive RNA editing in human transcriptome

In a new study published online in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the evidence of extensive RNA editing in a human cell line by analysis of RNA-seq data, demons ...