Parental Views and Expectations on Quality of Life of Their Children After Long‐Term Implant Use—Insights From the Government Funded CI Project in India

BACKGROUND: Increase in the number of children receiving cochlear implants warrants the need for exploring parental views and experience on outcomes of children. The objective was to understand the parental views and expectations on QoL after 5 years of CI use among the recipients of a government-funded CI programme in Kerala, India. METHODS: Based on the literature review and clinical experience, a 52-item close-ended questionnaire was developed to explore the parents' views and experiences with CI in their children on various domains. The questionnaire was sent to 802 parents with a return rate of 59.10%. The mean age of the children was 128.6 months, and the mean duration of implant use was 92.9 months. RESULTS: Parents agreed that their children communicated easily and efficiently (83%), use of spoken language developed (94.3%), could play outside (92.5%), enjoy quality time with peers (98.4%), improved confidence (90.7%), became independent like peer group (73%), better family relationships (86.6%) and dependent on the implant for academic activities (94.7%). CONCLUSION: Service delivery is shaped by parental perspectives on insights into children's spoken language and psychosocial development, as well as their lived experiences. Hence, understanding the wider perspectives of parents over the long-term use of CI helps in counselling, setting realistic expectations and supporting new families in the decision-making process.