Cochlear Implantation in Children: Socioeconomic Family Characteristics

Purpose: The aim of the study is to analyse the socioeconomic status of implanted children families, candidates for implantation families and families of deaf children whose parents elicit not to proceed with cochlear implantation and to find out if the socioeconomic status has an influence on parental decision-making process. The following variables describe the socioeconomic status: place of living (urban/rural area), parental educational level and household monthly income (in Euro). Work method: Forty children divided in two groups were included in the study: Group 1 (23 implanted children and 7 candidates for implantation) and group 2 (10 deaf children whose parents elicit not to proceed). Data were obtained from parents of children by phone. It was not possible to establish the contact with parents of three children. Work results: As for the place of living, 20 families were from urban area, 17 families were from rural area and the place of living of 3 families was unknown. average number of completed school grades by parents was respectively: Group 1 - 5.92 and Group 2 - 5.33. Conclusion: Concerning the place of living, parental educational level and household monthly income no differences can be seen between groups. Therefore, the authors concluded that socioeconomic status has no influence on making decision process.