| 1. |
- Anmyr, Lena, et al.
(författare)
-
Children with hearing impairment : living with cochlear implants or with hearing aids
- 2011
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0165-5876 .- 1872-8464. ; 75:6, s. 844-849
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective The aim of this study was to enhance knowledge about the life circumstances of children with cochlear implants or hearing aids, regarding daily functioning and attitude to the impairment. Methods Data were obtained from 36 children with cochlear implants and 38 children with hearing aids via study-specific questionnaires with fixed answer alternatives. The questions covered (1) usage of aids and related factors, (2) hearing in different everyday situations, (3) thoughts about the children's own hearing and others’ attitudes to it, and (4) choice of language. The data were analyzed using SPSS, and presented via the theoretical frame of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, Child and Youth version (ICF-CY). Results Children with CI and HA functioned equally well in daily life, but there were also certain differences. Symptoms from neck and shoulders were more common among children with hearing aids than among children with cochlear implants (p < .001). Children with hearing aids used their aids significantly less often than those with cochlear implants (p < .001). The participation variables showed that children with hearing aids had significantly more hearing problems in team sports (p = .033) and outdoor activities (p = .019), in comparison to children with cochlear implants. The two groups had similar thoughts regarding their own hearing, mostly considering it not to be a problem. They also did not generally think that other people found their hearing to be a problem. Conclusions Children with cochlear implants and children with hearing aids have, in some aspects, equally good functioning in everyday life situations. However, certain differences were found in dimensions of functioning, regarding neck and shoulder pain, usage of aids and sign language, and hearing problems in some activities.
|
|
| 2. |
- Anmyr, Lena
(författare)
-
Life circumstances of children and adolescents after cochlear implantation
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction: In Sweden, about 300 children every year are born with hearing impairment (HI), and about 50 of them with severe HI. Today, these children are treated with either hearing aid (HA) or cochlear implant (CI). The goal of the CI is for the child to develop hearing and spoken language, facilitating communication with the hearing majority society and thus increasing the child’s wellbeing and participation in society. Where the child is not using his or her CI, the intended spoken language development does not occur. Cochlear implantation was introduced as a treatment in the 1990s, so intensive research and development has taken place in the field. However, few studies have focused on the children’s physical, emotional, and social situation or on the functioning of the CI, especially from children’s own perspective. Aim: The overall aim of the thesis is to provide increased knowledge about life circumstances and condition of children and adolescents after surgery with CI. Methods: This thesis comprises four studies on children with a CI, focusing: children’s own experience of using CI compared to the experience of children with HA (Study I); the children’s self-reports of their mental health compared to their parents’ and teachers’ perspectives (Study II); the cildren’s personal and social resources (Study III); and the parents’ perspective of having a child with CI (Study IV). Both quantitative (studies I–III) and qualitative (Study IV) methodology has been used. Studies I–III are cross-sectional, based on questionnaires completed by four participant groups: children with CI, children with HA, parents, and teachers, whose data has been used in different ways in the three studies. Children with CI included in studies I–III were obtained from the same sample (36 children with CI). Study IV is a retrospective, qualitative study using meaning categorization to analyze individual interviews with twelve parents of children with CI. Results: In Study I, children with CI were able to function well in everyday life situations, also in comparison to children with HA. In Study II, they expressed greater concern about their mental health compared to their parents and teachers. However, they did not show more difficulties or mental ill health compared to children in general. Children with CI who had a high sense of coherence (SOC) also had good mental health. Closeness of the social network, especially in school, was seen as important for good mental health (Study III). Parents of children who use the CI full-time were determined and used clear parenting strategies whereas parents of children with limited use of the CI paid more attention to attitudes in their environment (Study IV). Conclusion: Children who were implanted with CI during the period 1994 - 2005 had good functioning in everyday life; better than children with HA in outdoor and group activities. They showed good personal and social resources. This, however, does not mean that difficulties do not exist. The child’s own perspective on e.g. mental health problems needs to be attended to. Good parenting strategies are facilitating the child’s use of the CI, why it is important to enhance parent’s knowledge about disability, and it’s challenges, foster positive coping strategies, and give individualized rehabilitation both to the parents and the child.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Anmyr, Lena, et al.
(författare)
-
Parents' Stress and Coping Related to Children's Use of a Cochlear Implant : A Qualitative Study
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation. - 1536-710X .- 1536-7118. ; 15:2, s. 150-167
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim was to increase understanding of parents' experiences of having a child with cochlear implant (CI) and to explore how these related to children's use of CI. Twelve parents of children, full-time users or limited users of CI, participated in the study. Qualitative content analysis showed that the parents of children who used their CI differed from the parents with limited users in how they handled stressors. Support from health care professionals was seen as insufficient. Parents need to get involved in dynamic processes, where health care resources promote parental coping.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Anmyr, Lena, et al.
(författare)
-
Sense of coherence, social networks, and mental health among children with a cochlear implant
- 2015
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0165-5876 .- 1872-8464. ; 79:4, s. 610-615
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the personal and social resources of children with a cochlear implant from a child's perspective. Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study included 19 children with cochlear implants, aged 9-12 years. Data was collected, using the children's sense of coherence (CSOC) scale, the Network map, and the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ). The data was analyzed using descriptive and correlation statistics. Results: Most children had a strong sense of coherence. School life was an important arena for their social network. The mental health was comparable to normal hearing children. Still, some of the children with implants had low SOC and poor mental health. High SOC and closeness of the social network, especially in school, were associated with good mental health. Conclusion: This study shows that Swedish school-aged children with cochlear implants as a group have access to personal and social resources as strong sense of coherence and social networks. Still, there are individual children with psychosocial problems who need support and treatment.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
- Anmyr, Lena, et al.
(författare)
-
Strengths and difficulties in children with cochlear implants : Comparing self-reports with reports from parents and teachers
- 2012
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0165-5876 .- 1872-8464. ; 76:8, s. 1107-1112
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The aim was to explore and compare how children with cochlear implants, their parents, and their teachers perceive the children's mental health in terms of emotional and behavioral strengths and difficulties.Methods: The self-report, parents', and teachers' versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to assess the mental health of 22 children with cochlear implants. The children's assessments were then compared to the parents' and 17 teachers' assessments. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software package.Results: Total difficulties (p = .000), emotional symptoms (p = .000), and conduct problems (p = .007) were greater according to the children than according to parents and teachers. Younger children (9 years, n = 12) reported more emotional symptoms than older children (12 and 15 years, n = 10). Almost a quarter of the children rated themselves in a way indicating mental ill-health. Parents and teachers each indicated mental ill-health for one child.Conclusions: Children with cochlear implants express greater concerns about their mental health than their parents and teachers do. This is important knowledge for adults in families, schools, and health care in order to support these children and offer treatment when needed.
|
|
| 9. |
- Löfkvist, Ulrika, Docent, et al.
(författare)
-
Executive Functions, Pragmatic Skills, and Mental Health in Children With Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection With Cochlear Implants: A Pilot Study
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 1664-1078. ; 10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the most common cause of progressive hearing impairment. In our previous study around 90% of children with a cCMV infection and CI had severely damaged balance functions (Karltorp et al., 2014). Around 20% had vision impairment, 15% were diagnosed with Autism-Spectrum-Disorder, and 20% with ADHD. One clinical observation was that children with cCMV infection had problems with executive functioning (EF), while controls with a genetic cause of deafness (Connexin 26 mutations; Cx26) did not have similar difficulties. A follow-up study was therefore initiated with the main objective to examine EF and pragmatic skills in relation to mental health in children with a cCMV infection and to draw a comparison with matched controls with Cx26 mutations (age, sex, hearing, non-verbal cognitive ability, vocabulary, and socioeconomic status level). Ten children with a cCMV infection and CI (4.8-12:9 years) and seven children with CI (4:8-12:8 years) participated in the study, which had a multidisciplinary approach. Executive functioning was assessed both with formal tests targeting working memory and attention, parent and teacher questionnaires, and a systematic observation by a blinded psychologist during one test situation. Pragmatics and mental health were investigated with parent and teacher reports. In addition, the early language outcome was considered in non-parametric correlation analyses examining the possible relationships between later EF skills, pragmatics, and mental health. Children with cCMV had a statistically significant worse pragmatic outcome and phonological working memory than controls despite their groups having similar non-verbal cognitive ability and vocabulary. However, there were no statistical differences between the groups regarding their EF skills in everyday settings and mental health. There were associations between early language outcomes and later EF skills and pragmatics in the whole sample. Conclusion: Children with a cCMV infection are at risk of developing learning difficulties in school due to difficulties with phonological working memory and pragmatic skills in social interactions.
|
|
| 10. |
- Löfkvist, Ulrika, et al.
(författare)
-
Gender differences in caregiver's use of spoken language with young children who are hard-of-hearing
- 2022
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0165-5876 .- 1872-8464. ; 156
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: Shared parenting among caregivers of different gender is common in the Swedish society. It is unclear if this includes shared contribution for children's language development. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore the natural language environment of children who were hard-of-hearing compared to typically hearing controls.METHODS: Seventy-two families with children aged 7-35 months participated; 22 children who were hard-of-hearing (Cochlear implants, n=11; Hearing aids, n=11) and 50 controls with typical hearing. The majority of caregivers had higher education background level, especially in the control group. Families conducted a daylong recording with the Language Environment Analysis technology, when both parents were present at home. An Interpreted Time Segmental analysis was performed to extract information about female versus male caregivers quantitative word use.RESULTS: The results showed significant gender differences related to number of adult words, with less male words than female words (p <0.001). Male caregivers of children who were hard-of-hearing contributed with around 27 % of adult words during the recordings while males in the control group contributed with 37 %. There was a larger variation in number of female words in the study group than for controls, especially in mothers of children with cochlear implants.CONCLUSIONS: Female caregivers talk significantly more close to young children than male caregivers, and especially in the subgroup of children with cochlear implants. Children who are hard-of-hearing are dependent on a rich language environment, and might be especially vulnerable if male caregivers are less involved as language facilitators. More studies are needed to explore caregiver gender differences, both related to quantitative and qualitative language stimulation.
|
|
| 11. |
- Smeds, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
-
X-linked Malformation Deafness : Neurodevelopmental Symptoms Are Common in Children With IP3 Malformation and Mutation in POU3F4
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Ear and Hearing. - : Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. - 0196-0202 .- 1538-4667. ; 43:1, s. 53-69
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Incomplete partition type 3 (IP3) malformation deafness is a rare hereditary cause of congenital or rapid progressive hearing loss. The children present with a severe to profound mixed hearing loss and temporal bone imaging show a typical inner ear malformation classified as IP3. Cochlear implantation is one option of hearing restoration in severe cases. Little is known about other specific difficulties these children might exhibit, for instance possible neurodevelopmental symptoms.Material and methods: Ten 2; 0 to 9; 6-year-old children with IP3 malformation deafness (nine boys and one girl) with cochlear implants were evaluated with a retrospective chart review in combination with an additional extensive multidisciplinary assessment day. Hearing, language, cognition, and mental ill-health were compared with a control group of ten 1; 6 to 14; 5-year-old children with cochlear implants (seven boys and three girls) with another genetic cause of deafness, mutations in the GJB2 gene.Results: Mutations in POU3F4 were found in nine of the 10 children with IP3 malformation. Children with IP3 malformation deafness had an atypical outcome with low level of speech recognition (especially in noise), executive functioning deficits, delayed or impaired speech as well as atypical lexical-semantic and pragmatic abilities, and exhibited mental ill-health issues. Parents of children with IP3 malformation were more likely to report that they were worried about their child’s psychosocial wellbeing. Controls, however, had more age-typical results in all these domains. Eight of 10 children in the experimental group had high nonverbal cognitive ability despite their broad range of neurodevelopmental symptoms.Conclusions: While cochlear implantation is a feasible alternative for children with IP3 malformation deafness, co-occurring neurodevelopmental anomalies, such as attention deficit hyperactivity or developmental language disorder, and mental ill-health issues require an extensive and consistent multidisciplinary team approach during childhood to support their overall habilitation.
|
|
| 12. |
- Wass, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Correlates of Orthographic Learning in Swedish Children With Cochlear Implants
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-1078. ; 10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study set out to explore the cognitive and linguistic correlates of orthographic learning in a group of 32 deaf and hard of hearing children with cochlear implants, to better understand the factors that affect the development of fluent reading in these children. To date, the research about the mechanisms of reading fluency and orthographic learning in this population is scarce. The children were between 6:0 and 10:11 years of age and used oral language as their primary mode of communication. They were assessed on orthographic learning, reading fluency and a range of cognitive and linguistic skills including working memory measures, word retrieval and paired associate learning. The results were analyzed in a set of correlation analyses. In line with previous findings from children with typical hearing, orthographic learning was strongly correlated with phonological decoding, receptive vocabulary, phonological skills, verbal-verbal paired-associate learning and word retrieval. The results of this study suggest that orthographic learning in children with CI is strongly dependent on similar cognitive and linguistic skills as in typically hearing peers. Efforts should thus be made to support phonological decoding skill, vocabulary, and phonological skills in this population.
|
|
| 13. |
- Wass, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Learning to read when speech sounds different : Orthographic learning in children with cochlear implants
- 2018
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate orthographic learning and reading skill in Swedish children with cochlear implants (CI) in comparison with normal hearing peers (NH), and to explore relationships between orthographic learning and cognitive skills in the CI group.MethodEighteen children with CI and 43 NH children, matched for age and nonverbal IQ, participated. They were 7;10 - 10;4 years of age. All children were tested on reading fluency (words and nonwords), orthographic learning, existing orthographic representations, working memory (WM), and expressive vocabulary. The children with CI were also assessed on verbal fluency, paired associate learning (visual-visual, verbal-verbal and visual-verbal) and phoneme deletion. Group differences were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U tests. Relationships between skills were analyzed in partial correlations with age controlled.ResultsThe children with CI performed below the level of hearing peers on the measures of WM, and expressive vocabulary. They also performed below age-norms on the phoneme deletion task.On the other hand, the groups did not differ significantly on reading fluency, existing orthographic representations or orthographic learning. The group difference on orthographic learning approached significance (p=.07). In the CI group, orthographic learning was strongly correlated with reading fluency (words and nonwords respectively), visual-verbal and verbal-verbal paired associate learning, and verbal fluency.ConclusionsDespite having poorer language skills and lower WM capacity, children with CI may successfully learn new orthographic representations and develop fluent reading. In line with the self-teaching hypothesis (Share, 1999), orthographic learning was strongly related to phonological decoding (nonword reading fluency) also in children with CI. In addition, paired associate learning, verbal fluency, and WM capacity were related to their orthographic learning skill.
|
|
| 14. |
- Wass, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Predictors of Reading Comprehension in Children With Cochlear Implants
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-1078. ; 10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Children with a profound hearing loss who have been implanted with cochlear implants (CI), vary in terms of their language and reading skills. Some of these children have strong language skills and are proficient readers whereas others struggle with language and both the decoding and comprehension aspects of reading. Reading comprehension is dependent on a number of skills where decoding, spoken language comprehension and receptive vocabulary have been found to be the strongest predictors of performance. Children with CI have generally been found to perform more poorly than typically hearing peers on most predictors of reading comprehension including word decoding, vocabulary and spoken language comprehension, as well as working memory. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationships between reading comprehension and a number of predictor variables in a sample of twenty-nine 11–12-year-old children with profound hearing loss, fitted with CI. We were particularly interested in the extent to which reading comprehension in children with CI at this age is dependent on decoding and receptive vocabulary. The predictor variables that we set out to study were word decoding, receptive vocabulary, phonological skills, and working memory. A second purpose was to explore the relationships between reading comprehension and demographic factors, i.e., parental education, speech perception and age of implantation. The results from these 29 children indicate that receptive vocabulary is the most influential predictor of reading comprehension in this group of children although phonological decoding is, of course, fundamental.
|
|
| 15. |
- Wass, Malin, et al.
(författare)
-
Reading fluency and orthographic learning in Swedish children with CI
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Abstract book. - : Linköping University. ; , s. 196-196
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study examined reading fluency and orthographic learning in 40 children with cochlear implants. Their age range was 6;0-10;11.The children were implanted with their (first) CI at 24 months on average and thirty-four of them were bilaterally implanted. Sixty to 70 percent of the children with CI had reading skills at or above the 45th percentile on the measures of orthographic and phonological word reading fluency. Speech perception in silence was moderately associated with both reading fluency and orthographic learning. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that phonological decoding was a strong predictor of orthographic learning after age and non-verbal skills were accounted for. Receptive vocabulary, verbal fluency and verbal-verbal paired-associate learning predicted additional variance in orthographic learning after phonological decoding was controlled for.Phoneme awareness was the strongest predictor of both orthographic- and phonological- and decoding fluency after age and nonverbal skills were controlled.Age at implantation was not a significant predictor of any of the measures of reading or orthographic learning.These results resemble the pattern typically found in normal hearing children and suggests that phonemic awareness and phonological decoding are crucial for orthographic learning and reading fluency in children with CI.
|
|
