Psychic stress and quality of life in parents during decisive phases in the therapy of their hearing-impaired children.

Objective: This study was performed to analyze psychic stress and quality of life in the parents of children with hearing impairment in the course of various phases of treatment.

Design: At three measuring points over a course of 12 months, the degree of parental stress and the quality of life was surveyed prospectively. In addition, the children's hearing and speech status was surveyed.

Parental distress: the initial phase of hearing aid and cochlear implant fitting.

The results of previous cross-section studies suggest that childhood hearing impairment may lead to parental psychosocial stress. The present study investigated whether modifications in parental psychic state can be ascertained in connection with the child's treatment events and the child's hearing and speech status, in a prospective study design. Data were available on 116 fathers and mothers regarding the pre-cochlear implant examination or hearing aid fitting of their child.

Receptive and expressive language skills of 106 children with a minimum of 2 years' experience in hearing with a cochlear implant.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the speech development of children with at least 2 years' hearing experience with a cochlear implant (CI).

Methods: One hundred and six children were tested, all of whom had used the CI for at least 2 years. Receptive and expressive language development were tested using the scales of early communication skills for hearing-impaired children after Geers and Moog and the Reynell developmental language scales III.