PURPOSE: To identify and analyze factors that influence the participation of parents in the rehabilitation process of children with cochlear implants (CI). RESEARCH STRATEGY: Question formulation and articles selection in three databases using the following keywords: cochlear implant (implante coclear) and parents (pais). SELECTION CRITERIA: Complete original articles published in Brazilian Portuguese or English, with direct participation of parents of children with CI. DATA ANALYSIS: Articles were fully read. Data regarding characterization of the centers, research methodology and content were analyzed. RESULTS: Thirteen articles were selected based on the established criteria. The types of studies were cross-sectional and case-control (interview technique). The following influential factors were identified: pre-CI surgery factors (knowledge about CI, quality and quantity of information, specialist's advices, ethical and biomedical aspects, rehabilitation engagement, contact with experienced families, social service support and overall costs); rehabilitation aspects (CI use, oral communication modality, regular school, other disabilities, social and demographic aspects and rehabilitation program's effectiveness); other important influential processes (communication modality, auditory and language development, second oral language learning, as well as parent's behavior and satisfaction). CONCLUSION: The engagement of parents in the rehabilitation process of children with CI depends on several distinct influential factors which audiologists should understand and consider when elaborating a rehabilitation program.
Rehabilitation; Cochlear implantation; Parents; Parent-child relations; Child