Quality of Life in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing and Their Families-A Scoping Review.

OBJECTIVE

Quality of life (QoL) has become an increasingly relevant outcome for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). However, it is not clear how QoL has been investigated in this population, especially during the first years of life. We reviewed research on QoL of children who are DHH aged 0-7 years and their families to describe the state of current research.

DATA SOURCES: Articles published during the last 10 years were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychArticles, ProQuest, and Scopus on QoL of young children and their families.

REVIEW

METHODS

The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Three independent reviewers applied predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria during the screening of titles, abstracts, and full-text articles.

RESULTS

A total of 47 studies were included. They measured various aspects of QoL, and many lacked a definition of the term itself. Hearing-specific and general QoL questionnaires were used to collect data, but psychometric properties were often not documented. Children with cochlear implants were the most frequently studied population, whereas mild, moderate, and unilateral hearing losses were underrepresented. Research on the effects of family-centered early intervention on child and family QoL was practically absent.

CONCLUSIONS

QoL includes multiple aspects, and they need to be specified in each study to facilitate cross-study comparison. Future research should include understudied groups, such as children with mild hearing loss and children with comorbid conditions. Furthermore, studies that investigate the benefits of interventions beyond cochlear implantation are needed.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.