Effects of families’ socioeconomic and education level on auditory skills of cochlear implant users: an Iranian population study

Abstract

Background and Aim: Hearing loss can have disabling effects on all aspects of children’s life and demographic factors of families can have significant effects on children’s auditory deve­lopment. The main aim of the study was deter­mining the effects of socioeconomic and educa­tion level on auditory behaviors of hearing-impaired children. Methods: The study was cross sectional descrip­tive-analytic study and was conducted on 207 parents of children under age of four years with native Persian speaking parents with literacy skill. Their hearing impairment was identified before the first month of age. Early occurrence of hearing loss was considered to exclude any effe­cts of early exposure to normal auditory stimuli on the outcome measurements. The children had at least 3-month experience with the cochlear implant (CI) after best fitting and adaptation to their device at the time of the study. Samples were selected by convenience sampling method from available subjects. For determining socioeconomic level, Ghodratnama socioeco­nomic status (SES) questionnaire was used. Infa­nts and Toddlers Meaningful Auditory Integ­ration Scale (IT-MAIS) was selected for the auditory beha­viors study. Results: Socioeconomic and educational level of the family showed no significant effects on audi­tory behaviors. The age of receiving auditory ass­istive device had weak but statistically signifi­cant effect on the outcome. Conclusion: It seems that socioeconomic status and educational level of the family did not con­tribute to the auditory behaviors of children with cochlear implant. The generalizations of these results need further studies. Keywords: Cochlear implant; pediatric; auditory behaviors; socioeconomic status