Evaluating the effect of cochlear implantation age on pragmatic abilities before and after age of 3

The cochlear implant (CI) is crucial in developing hearing, speech, language, and communication skills in children with profound hearing loss (HL). The study aimed to assess how the age at which children receive a CI affects the development of pragmatic abilities between the ages of 5 and 8 for those who received a CI before or after the age of 3.

Forty children with CI were evaluated. The children between the ages of 5 and 8 were divided into two groups who received CIs before or after age 3. The Persian version of the Children's Communication Checklist (CCC) was used to assess pragmatic abilities with a parent rating scale.

Children implanted under 3 got higher scores in social relationships, using context, conversational rapport, syntax, and speech. Also, their performance in inappropriate and stereotyped conversations was better than those over 3 years. They have a significant difference in the pragmatic composite than those who received CI over 3 except for coherence and interest (p < 0.05).

According to the results, children with CI under 3 performed better in pragmatic composites, which means they have better pragmatic abilities. These findings suggest that early CI is important. Of course, other individual and environmental factors must also be considered.