[Comparative study on the EPLAD of profoundly deaf children with hearing aid fittings or cochlear implantations at...

Objective:The purpose of the current study was to provide good clinical values for rehabilitation exercises and counseling of hearing impaired children by comparing the early prelingual auditory development（EPLAD） of children with hearing aid fittings or cochlear implantations at the same age. Method:Longitudinal evaluation of EPLAD, profoundly deaf children, who received hearing aid fittings or cochlear implantations at 2 years of age, were recruited in this study, and would be tested with Infant-toddler meaningful auditory integration scale（IT-MAIS） at 3, 6 and 12 months after intervention. One hundred and four children were recruited in this study and divided into two groups based on the types of devices: Cochlear implant group（CI group） and Hearing aid group（HA group）. Each child could be permitted to miss follow-up one time. Result:The IT-MAIS scores of children in both groups improved with increasing wear time. The scores in CI group showed a statistically significant improvement between each interval after switch-on（P=0.000）. However, there was just a statistical difference between overall scores at 3 and 12 months after fitting in HA group（P=0.042）. In addition, the IT-MAIS scores of the two groups were statistically significant at 6 and 12 months after switch-on/fitting（P=0.026, P=0.005）. Simultaneously, the mean overall score of children in CI group at 12 months after switch-on approached the average level of unaided peers with mild hearing loss. However, the mean score at 12 months after fitting was close to the average level of unaided peers with moderate hearing loss. Conclusion:Both of CI and HA could improve EPLAD of profoundly deaf children. However, the EPLAD of CI children could improve faster in the first year after switch-on. And the results would also provide more comprehensive clinical values for rehabilitation and counseling of hearing impaired children by comparing to normal and unaided hearing impaired children.