Online rehabilitation for CI children during the pandemic

The pandemic forced us to think about new ways of auditory rehabilitation after CI. The aim of the study was to evaluate online therapy (OT) for auditory training in CI children.

Twenty-one mono- and bilingual children aged 8;2 (SD 4.6) with a CI experience of 30.3 months (SD 32.9) and 5 therapists were included. After 6 OT on average, parents as well as therapists received a questionnaire on usability (SUS), patient-therapist interaction (STA-R), quality, benefit and satisfaction (Bochum questionnaire). In addition, therapists completed a short questionnaire after each therapy.

Overall, all users showed high (p=.006) satisfaction with OT. Quality of the therapist-patient relationship and satisfaction were associated (p<.001). Parents (88/100) and therapists (93/100) did not differ in SUS (p=.83), but usability correlated with children's smartphone use (p=.003) and parents' technical experience (p=.02).

While words and sentences were easy to integrate online, this was less successful for games and computer-based tasks. Technical problems rarely occurred. Whereas the time to prepare the lesson increased by 17.9 minutes (SD 7.3) for therapists, patients saved 93 minutes (SD 68) and 70 km (SD 71) per therapy. A majority of patients would like to continue using video therapy even after the pandemic, except one. Significant differences with regard to age could not be found.

Online therapy might serve as a substitute for on-site therapy for a while. It offers the opportunity to involve parents and environment even more in the therapeutical process of rehabilitation than face-to-face therapy. However, it faces the challenge to maintain motivation and attention, especially in younger children or in those with attention deficit disorders.

Publication History

Article published online:
24 May 2022