Parents and their cochlear implanted child: questionnaire development to assess parental views and experiences.

OBJECTIVES

To test the reliability of a validated closed-format questionnaire assessing parental views following cochlear implantation of their child.

DESIGN

Parents were surveyed using a closed-format questionnaire developed in earlier work. The same parents were surveyed 1 month later and responses compared. Test-retest reliability was thereby assessed.

SETTING

Tertiary referral Pediatric Cochlear Implant Centre in the UK.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The parents of 20 children who had been born deaf or were deafened by age 3 years and who had been implanted for at least 2 years were drawn at random from patient lists. Parents were surveyed using a closed-format questionnaire whose validity had been previously assessed and re-surveyed 1 month later. Responses over time were compared.

RESULTS

For the majority of items in the questionnaire, the replication of the item would lead to the same response on at least 95% of occasions. The text of the closed-format questionnaire is reproduced in full.

CONCLUSION

This validated closed-format questionnaire appears to be unique in respect of cochlear implantation, being based explicitly on issues thought important by the parents. The high test-retest reliability indicates that it is capable of eliciting parental views in a meaningful manner. This information that is not currently available by other means can then be used as part of an overall assessment of outcomes, to inform efforts aimed at quality improvement as well as demonstrating accountability to purchasers and policymakers. Moreover, a wider use of this instrument can result in valid comparisons of outcomes among different cochlear implant centres.