부산대학교 도서관

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine: (1) demographic data of cochlear implanted children in Taiwan; (2) background information of implant use; (3) auditory performance of implanted children; and (4) communication skills of those children. Study Design: In a cross-sectional study, the parents of a representative sample of cochlear implanted children were invited to complete questionnaires regarding to children's background information, device use related information, auditory performance, and spoken communication skills. A parental questionnaire investigation was conducted on cochlear implanted children under age 18 from the cochlear implant centers of 7 major hospitals. A descriptive statistics was conducted to analyze data in SPSS v.12. Results: The results demonstrated that 229 respondents served as a valid sample with a mean age of 9.75 years (2.3-18.8y), six groups of children were classified based on their implantation age at 3.5 years, and three lengths of implant use. 86.5% of children had hearing disorders only, the age onset of hearing loss was before age 2 among 79% of children, 95.6% of children’s parents with normal hearing, and 76% of them studied at school. 64.6% of them had listening difficulties and 30% of them had difficulties operating their devices, and 59.4% of them used other hearing devices to supplement their implants. Totally 89.5% of respondents agreed that cochlear implantation was a right decision. 81.7% of implants were reimbursed, an average fee was NT $350,000. Yearly, the devices needed repair twice, the mean cost was NT $12,000. 94.2% of children had received auditory training, 74.7% of training was conducted by speech therapists, duration of training was 3.05 years. 78.2% of implant devices were Australian Nucleus products and 63.4% of speech processor were pocket type. 97% of children used the devices frequently and 80.6% of them used the devices within 8-16 hours daily. Auditory performance with CAPR indicated that 5.6% of children reached under level 3, 76.3% of them reached over level 6, and 58% of them could use telephone. Speech understanding showed 77.3% vs. 38.9% of children understood the majority of conversation in quiet or in noisy environment. Speech perception demonstrated 61% of children could understand strangers and 40.2% of children could be understood by a majority of listeners. Conclusion: This study has provided current status of device use, auditory performance, and communication skills among 229 cochlear implanted children in Taiwan. To establish a nationwide hearing research institute is a must to support policy making decisions for the Government also to upgrade social welfare for the hearing-impaired, also to conduct national research on hearing and hearing disorders.