Pragmatic Skills in Children with Hearing Loss: Comparison Between Cochlear Implants and Hearing Aids Users

Pragmatic language ability denotes the ability to use language in a social context. There is a lack of research that has compared children's pragmatic skills with hearing loss with those of hearing peers. This study questioned whether children with a cochlear implant would show better pragmatic skills than children with hearing aids. 52 children were included in three groups: cochlear implant (n = 16), hearing aid (n = 16), and normal hearing (n = 20). The participants' pragmatic skills were evaluated using the Persian version of the children's communication checklist. Of the 52 participants recruited, 22 (42.3%) were males, and 30 (57.7%) were females. The mean age of the CI, HA, and NH group participants was 75.19 ± 10.80, 72.19 ± 8.68, and 68.90 ± 6.78 months, respectively (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference between the mean scores of Speech Output and Syntax between the groups (CI, HA and NH) (P < 0.001). The hearing-impaired children show acceptable pragmatic skills in comparison with NH children. Specialists, such as teachers and clinicians, should be alert of the abilities and difficulties that the hearing-impaired children might be facing in the regular classroom.