emotional changes in children undergoing cochlear implantation through evaluation of their drawings

background: the emotional changes of patients undergoing cochlear implantation (ci) has been addressed in a few studies. to date, no special test has been developed to measure these changes .   objective: to measure the emotional status of children undergoing ci by interpreting their drawings.   methods : a prospective longitudinal study on prelingually deafened children from 4-14 years of age undergoing ci and sex and age-matched non-ci candidate deaf children comprised the study population. drawings were produced before implantation and after 1, 3, 6, and 12-month intervals. these were scored with regard to a questionnaire developed inamiraalamhospitalhearingresearchcenter,tehran,iran.   results : the prevalence of drawings with cues of rage/anxiety decreased from 35% to 21.9%. similarly, sadness prevalence dropped from 36.8% to 20% and the prevalence of immaturity was reduced from 20% to 7.1%.   conclusion : we recommend drawing to be included in the rehabilitation program of children undergoing ci and used as a practical measure of their emotional progress.