Quality of life and psychological distress in parents of children with a cochlear implant

Abstract

Objective The goal of the study was to ascertain psychological distress and quality of life in the parents of children with a cochlear implant, and to test whether a poorer speech status of those children correlates directly with heightened parental psychological distress and reduction of quality of life.Methods In a cross-sectional study design, 52 mothers and 42 fathers of 55 children with cochlear implants completed the Symptom Checklist 90-R and the Everyday Life Questionnaire. The speech status of the children was ascertained by means of the scales of Geers and Moog.Results Twenty-one per cent of the parents showed heightened psychological distress. The parents’ mean quality of life was reduced, lying between that of somatically ill patients and healthy persons. No statistically positive conrrelation was shown between the speech status of the children with cochlear implants and the parents’ condition.