Background: The goal of this study was to compare the auditory behaviour of bilaterally implanted children while using both CIs to their auditory behaviour during the time when they were using one CI.
Methods: For this purpose a questionnaire looking at different aspects of hearing such as hearing in background noise, in complex listening situations and directional hearing was developed. The questionnaire was completed by the parents of 28 bilaterally implanted children. They were instructed to state their judgement on the behaviour of their children. The parents scaled their judgements using a method of extended category scaling similar to that applied in the loudness scaling with the Würzburg hearing field (WHF). Each of the five verbal categories was subdivided into 10 numerical subdivisions, so that the parents were able to express judgements lying between the different categories.
Results: Eight out of eleven items showed that hearing with bilateral CIs was significantly better than with one CI (p < 0,003). The two items, which did not show a significant difference between the two conditions were those related to the interest in auditory rehabilitation and to aversion to noise.
Conclusions: The questionnaire has proven to be a useful instrument to assess the quality of hearing in children. The possibility of bilateral implantation should be considered during the decision process prior to implantation.