Health Status of Hearing Impaired Children and Adolescents

Hearing loss, is one of the world's most widespread physical handicaps. WHO reported 278 million hearing-impaired individuals including 68 million children. In Turkey, there are 63.173 children with hearing loss between the ages of 0-19. Hearing impaired children, may show some differences in their developmental process depending on their properties of their hearing problem. However, it does not that they are totally different from their hearing peers. Hearing impairment in early life have negative impacts in social, psychological, cultural, and medical aspects.Hearing quality is very important in all aspects of child development. Therefore, early diagnosis of congenital hearing loss and early rehabilitation is crucial. Currently, various hearing devices are utilized to not only rehabilitate hearing-impaired individuals, but also to facilitate the education of children. (Journal of Current Pediatrics 2011; 9: 85-92)