Parental Perspective Pre- and Post-Cochlear Implantation in Tanzania

Volume 3 - Issue 2

Rashida Muslim Hassuji*

Received:September 28, 2019;   Published: October 04, 2019

DOI: 10.32474/SJO.2019.01.000156

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Abstract

Background: The National Cochlear implant program in Tanzania was established in the year 2017. Prior to this, very few children with Profound Sensorineural Hearing Loss benefited from this surgery abroad through grants from the Ministry of Health. Since the establishment of the local program, there is an increased awareness amongst parents’, and many are seeking to benefit from this initiative. The challenge, however, remains the measurements of expectations of the parents and the actual outcomes after the surgery. This is mainly due to the perspective of the parents which comes about from their understanding of the whole process of surgery and the rehabilitation after surgery that determines expected outcomes.

Aim: This study aims to establish a direct link between the parental perspective pre and post cochlear implant surgery. Participants: A total of 18 children between ages of 3 years and 6 years, divided in two groups, G1=children who have been implanted for 1-2 years (n=8) and G2=children who have been implanted for 0-1 years (n=10).

Method: A non-standardized closed ended questionnaire with questions on perspectives of three domains i.e. Communication, Listening Skills and Speech and Language development was administered to the parents, pre-implantation and 1year post implantation for G1 and 6 months post-implantation for G2.

Results: In all of the 18 cases, pre-implantation expectations were higher than the actual perspectives post-implantation. However, G1 parents had higher scores than G2 i.e. The preimplantation expectations were somehow met after 1 year of implantation.

Conclusion: The study demonstrates the ability of Cochlear Implantation to meet the parental expectations in the 3 outcome domains i.e. communication, listening skills and the development of speech and language. However, this is subject to the time frame post implantation i.e. the longer the time, the better the pre-implant perspectives are met.

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