Parents' Perception of Health-Related Quality of Life in Children With Cochlear Implants: The Impact of Language Skills and Hearing

Purpose The study compared how parents of children with cochlear implants (CIs) and parents of children with normal hearing perceive their children's health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Method The sample consisted of 186 Norwegian-speaking children in the age span of 5;0–12;11 (years;months): 106 children with CIs (53% boys, 47% girls) and 80 children with normal hearing (44% boys, 56% girls). No children had known additional disabilities affecting language, cognitive development, or HR-QOL. Parents completed the generic questionnaire Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (Varni, Seid, & Kurtin, 2001), whereas children completed a test battery measuring different aspects of language and hearing. Results Parents of children with CIs reported statistically significantly poorer HR-QOL in their children, on Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory total score and the subdomains social functioning and school functioning. Roughly 50% of parents of children with CIs reported HR-QOL levels (total score) within norm...