Brazilian adaptation of the Functioning after Pediatric Cochlear Implantation (FAPCI): comparison between normal hearing and cochlear implanted children

Abstract

Objective: Enabling development of the ability to communicate effectively is the principal objective of cochlear implantation (CI) in children. However, objective and effective metrics of communication for cochlear-implanted Brazilian children are lacking. The Functioning after Pediatric Cochlear Implantation (FAPCI), a parent/caregiver reporting instrument developed in the United States, is the first communicative performance scale for evaluation of real-world verbal communicative performance of 2-5-year-old children with cochlear implants. The primary aim was to cross-culturally adapt and validate the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the FAPCI. The secondary aim was to conduct a trial of the adapted Brazilian-Portuguese FAPCI (FAPCI-BP) in normal hearing (NH) and CI children. Methods: The American-English FAPCI was translated by a rigorous forward-backward process. The FAPCI-BP was then applied to the parents of children with NH (n = 131) and CI (n = 13), 2-9 years of age. Test-retest reliability was verified. Results: The FAPCI-BP was confirmed to have excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > 0.90). The CI group had lower FAPCI scores (58.38 ± 22.6) than the NH group (100.38 ± 15.2; p 0,90). O grupo com IC apresentou menores pontuações no FAPCI (58,38 ± 22,6) que o grupo com AN (100,38 ± 15,2; p < 0,001, teste de Wilcoxon). Conclusão: Esses resultados indicam que o FAPCI-PB é um instrumento confiável. Pode ser utilizado para avaliar o desempenho comunicativo verbal em crianças com e sem IC. O FAPCI é, atualmente, o único instrumento validado psicometricamente que possibilita essas medições em crianças com implante coclear. Keywords: FAPCI, Cochlear implantation, Verbal communication, Normal hearing, Palavras-chave: FAPCI, Implante coclear, Comunicação verbal, Audição normal