Understanding the effect that a diagnosis of a childhood
hearing loss has on parents would help professionals adopt an
approach which diminishes parents’ possible negative feelings and
concerns. A sample of parents of children with hearing impairment
was interviewed to document demographic data related to hearing loss
in Maltese children. The present study also attempted to analyse the
effect of hearing loss on the parents’ wellbeing. Parents of 23 children
with a hearing loss and parents of eight children without a hearing
loss participated in the study. Structured face-to-face interviews were
carried out with both groups of parents. A self-devised questionnaire
was used with parents of children with hearing impairment to collect
information about several factors related to the hearing loss. This
included documentation of the different types, degrees and causes of
hearing loss as well as the ages of suspicion, diagnosis and amplification
of children with a hearing loss. The World Health Organisation Quality
of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire (World Health
Organisation [WHO], 1998) was then used with both groups of parents
to obtain a quality of life profile in four domains: physical health,
psychological health, social relationships and environment. Slight
quality of life differences, which were not statistically significant, were
noticed between parents of children with a hearing loss and parents of
children without a hearing loss. Quality of life scores were marginally
higher for parents whose gap between the day of diagnosis and the
interview date was more than 24 months, when compared to parents
whose gap was 24 months or less. These findings extend the limited
data on the effect of hearing loss on parents’ quality of life in the
Maltese context. More intensive support may be indicated for parents
of children with hearing impairment, particularly in the initial stages
following a diagnosis of a hearing loss. Support would help parents
better understand and accept their child’s hearing impairment.peer-reviewe
