Early tone perception ability in Mandarin-speaking children with simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants 24 months...

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Pediatric Otolaryngology

Background:

• Severe-to-profound hearing loss impacts children's auditory development.
• Simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation (CI) offers benefits, but research in Mandarin-speaking children is limited.
• Understanding CI outcomes in diverse linguistic populations is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare tone perception in Mandarin-speaking children with simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) versus unilateral CIs.
• To evaluate early auditory and speech skill development in these children.
• To assess the long-term benefits of bilateral CI over 24 months.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal study involving 20 children (10 unilateral CI, 10 bilateral CI) with a mean implantation age of 1.3 years.
• Assessment of Mandarin Early Speech Perception, auditory thresholds, and environmental factors pre-operatively and at 24 months.
• Measurement of Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP), Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR), and LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire (LEAQ) at baseline and 6, 12, 24 months.

Main Results:

• Tone perception scores trended higher in the bilateral CI group, though not statistically significant (p=0.058).
• Significant improvements in CAP, SIR, and LEAQ scores were observed in both unilateral and bilateral CI groups over 24 months (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Simultaneous bilateral CI implantation may offer advantages for tone perception in Mandarin-speaking children.
• Both unilateral and bilateral CIs significantly enhance early auditory and speech skills.
• Bilateral CI appears to be a beneficial option for Mandarin-speaking children with severe-to-profound hearing loss.