RETRACTION: How The Child with Hearing Loss and Their Parents Affected During the Covid-19 Pandemic?

Purpose: This study aimed to determine parents' perception of the behavioral and auditory performance differences of children with hearing loss and anxiety levels of children and their parents during the pandemic. Research Design: This is a cross-sectional study. Study Sample: The study included 75 parents who have preschool-aged children with hearing loss. The inclusion criteria were being a family member of a child with hearing loss between the ages of one and six years. The children's mean age was 4.09 (± 1.42). Data Collection and Analysis: The evaluation forms included the control list to determine how the children with hearing loss and their parents were affected during the pandemic, the Parents' Evaluation of Aural Performance of Children rating scale to measure children's auditory performance, the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire to assess behavior problems, the Preschool Anxiety Scale parental form, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory state form to measure the stress level of children and their parents. Parents were asked to fill out all forms. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare before and during the pandemic scores of PEACH and PBQ. Descriptive statistics on the levels of anxiety throughout families and children were presented. The Spearman test was used to examine the relationship between the effect of pandemic and other variables. Results: There was a difference in the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire scores before and during the pandemic but not in the Parents' Evaluation of Aural Performance of Children scores. The PBQ significantly increased during the pandemic, with 49% of children exhibiting out-of-the-ordinary behavior. The mean score of the Preschool Anxiety Scale-Parental form was 26.65± 19.05. Among all parents, 66% of them showed high levels of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory state. As before- A nd during-pandemic the Parents' Evaluation of Aural Performance of Children scores decreased, the children and their families were negatively affected during the pandemic. Conclusion: Parents' perspectives provided information on behavioral changes in children with hearing loss. Even though they did not report any difference in their children's auditory perception performance, long-term effects of limited or no auditory training should be studied. © 2022 American Academy of Audiology. All rights reserved.