Survey of Demographic Features of Prelingually Deaf Children Using Cochlear Implants in Pakistan
Prelingually Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants in Pakistan
Keywords:
Aural rehabilitation, Children, Cochlear implant, Early Intervention, Hearing impairmentAbstract
Background: Hearing loss affects 1.5 billion individuals globally, with profound implications of disability, manifest in delayed speech-language development, difficulty securing mainstream education, and social integration, particularly in children. In Pakistan, challenges such as consanguineous marriages, insufficient healthcare infrastructure, and environmental factors exacerbate the prevalence of pediatric hearing impairments.
Methods: This retrospective survey aims to establish the demographic character of children with congenital or prelingual hearing loss, given cochlear implants (CIs) in Pakistan. It investigates intervention timelines, family and educational language status, and outcomes of cochlear implantation in terms of aural rehabilitation and enrolment at school. Data was collected from 81 participating parents of CI children, using a questionnaire that revealed trends in the age of cochlear implantation, linguistic diversity, speech-language therapy given to CI children, and educational integration post-implantation. The data (e.g., multiple-choice questions) was analyzed using methods in descriptive statistics (means, percentages) for the different groups.
Results: While advancements in CI technology show promise, the results of this survey show limited accessibility and financial constraints as significant barriers to aural rehabilitation. The majority of the CIs were given to 2, 0-4; 0-year-old children. 90.12% of children in this study received speech and language therapy, of which 49.38% were enrolled in mainstream schools, while 38.27% attended other schools. 43.21% of the children received a donation for their CIs.
Conclusion: The study emphasizes the need for subsidized programs, enhanced public awareness, robust post-implantation support, and integration of hearing care into primary health systems to maximize the benefits of early intervention in multilingual settings.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Amina Asif Siddiqui, Kehkashan Kanwal, Cila Umat, Farheen Naz Anis, Ayesha Kamal Butt
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