Rehabilitation factors contributing to implant benefit in children

This study was performed to investigate factors contributing to auditory, speech, language, and reading outcomes after 4 to 6 years of multichannel cochlear implant use in children with prelingual deafness. The analysis controlled for the effects of child, family, and implant characteristics so that the educational factors most conducive to maximum implant benefit could be identified. We tested 136 children from across the United States and Canada. All were 8 or 9 years of age, had an onset of deafness before 3 years of age, underwent implantation by 5 years of age, and resided in a monolingual English-speaking home environment. Characteristics of the child and the family (primarily nonverbal IQ) accounted for approximately 20% of the variance in outcome after implantation. An additional 24% was accounted for by implant characteristics and 12% by educational variables, particularly communication mode. Oral education appears to be an important educational choice for children who have undergone cochlear implantation before 5 years of age.