Children with cochlear implants: communication skills and quality of Life

Given the multidimensional scope of cochlear implants, there is a growing need to assess clinical measures related communicative abilities and more general aspects involved in the effectiveness of treatment, such as quality of life. Aim: To translate and adapt an international questionnaire of quality of life to Brazilian Portuguese; to apply the questionnaire in parents of children with cochlear implant to assess quality of life of children after cochlear implantation; to analyze correlations among factors related to quality of life; to analyze correlations between quality of life and clinical measures of outcome. Method: prospective study in which parents of children with cochlear implants responded to validated instruments on quality of life and communication abilities. Results: The translation and adaptation of the questionnaire was satisfactorily completed. According to the data, cochlear implants had a positive effect on quality of life of the implanted children and their families. Observed correlations for the variable communication demonstrate a direct relationship between oral communication and other variables of quality of life. Conclusions: This study makes this questionnaire available in Brazilian Portuguese. For parents of Brazilian children with cochlear implants, lexical development(acquisition and use of words) is the variable that relates most to the quality of life of their children.