The FAPCI instrument is a psychometrically-validated survey that is used to evaluate the real-world verbal communicative performance of children aged 5 years or younger using cochlear implants. This instrument was designed to fill a gap in our current approach to the assessment of cochlear-implanted children, and FAPCI scores reflect a child’s ability to communicate in real-world settings (e.g. at home or when interacting with family members).

The 23-item FAPCI instrument is completed by the child’s parent or primary caregiver and has been designed to be a completely self-administered instrument for English-speakers with a 8th grade reading level. There is no need for a test administrator to be present to provide directions or answer questions.

The FAPCI instrument is currently being used in several ongoing industry and NIH-funded studies of pediatric cochlear implantation and has also been translated into German and Korean. Ongoing research efforts are assessing the variables that impact FAPCI scores (real-world communication) in contrast to clinical measures of speech perception.

At the clinical level, the FAPCI instrument is being used to track an individual child’s progress after cochlear implantation. Recently, preliminary “growth” curves of FAPCI scores in normal hearing children have been developed to aid in FAPCI score interpretation.

Download the FAPCI instrument and related materials and read about research conducted about the FAPCI Instrument.

The FAPCI instrument is copyrighted by the Johns Hopkins University but is freely available for routine clinical use. Researchers interested in using the instrument in funded studies, however, are asked to pay a modest licensure fee ($200/site) to help defray the costs of continued instrument research and development.

For more information, questions or comments about FAPCI, please email fapci@jhmi.edu.