Comparison between auditory and speech ability of cochlear implanted children

Hearing loss is the commonest type of sensory loss in children. Recent studies have confirmed the desirable effect of early cochlear implant on auditory and lingual skills. This study was performed in order to compare auditory and speech ability after cochlear implant surgery in <2 years old children and children aged between 2-4 years.

This descriptive study was performed on 210 pre-lingually deaf children, including 85 under 2 years old children and 121 children aged between 2-4 in year 2009 in Baqiyatallah cochlear implant centre. All samples underwent surgery in the same center and were evaluated before implantation and 12 months after the device was switched on. Hearing ability was evaluated by means of Categories of Auditory Perception Scale (CAP) and speech ability was assessed by Speech Intelligibility Ratings (SIR). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test by SPSS 16 software.

The mean CAP score after surgery for age group under 2 years was 5.14±0.38, and in age group 2< years old was 4.38±0.21, which was significantly higher in the first group (p=0.01). SIR results didn’t show significant difference between two groups.

In consistence with other recent studies, t his study demonstrates that better auditory outcome can be achieved when cochlear implantations is performed in younger age. Noticing that complications are rare and equal in both groups, performing cochlear implantation before 2 years of age is recommended.