Cochlear implants in children: An analysis of use over a three-year period

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether children continue to wear their cochlear implant systems 1 and 3 years after implantation. Study Design: The design was a prospective study based on the analysis of f orced-choice questionnaires on implant use completed independently by paren ts and teachers. Setting: The study was performed at a dedicated pediatric cochlear implant program in a tertiary referral center in the United Kingdom. Patients: All 85 consecutively implanted children who had reached the 1-yea r interval after implantation and 37 children who had reached the 3-year as sessment interval after implantation participated. The patients represented all socioeconomic status groups, the entire range of educational settings, and often lived at a considerable distance from the implant center. Main Outcome Measures: Parents and local teachers were asked to describe im plant use in the following categories: 1) all of the time; 2) most of the t ime; 3) some of the time; and 4) none of the time. Results: One year after implantation, parents and teachers, respectively, r ated 79 (93%) and 82 (96%) children as full-time users (category 1). Parent s rated six children (7%) as users most of the time (category 2), and teach ers rated three children (4%) as users most of the time. No child was rated as an occasional or nonuser (category 3 or 4). At 3 years after implantati on, 33 (89%) and 34 (95%) children were rated as full-time users (category 1) by parents and teachers, respectively. Parents judged four children (11% ) and teachers rated two children (5%) to be users most of the time (catego ry 2). Again, no child was rated in category 3 or 4 as an occasional or non user. Conclusions: The majority of implanted children use their implant systems a ll of the time over a 3-year period after implantation when selected approp riately and given appropriate follow-up.