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Long-term speech perception in children with cochlear implants compared with children with conventional hearing aids
A F Snik1, A M Vermeulen, J P Brokx
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
The American Journal of Otology
|December 10, 1997
Summary
Children with cochlear implants demonstrate speech perception comparable to peers with hearing aids. These findings suggest cochlear implant speech recognition is near optimal in select pediatric users.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Pediatric Otolaryngology
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Cochlear implants (CIs) offer a vital auditory rehabilitation option for children with severe to profound hearing loss.
- Assessing the long-term speech perception benefits of CIs in pediatric populations is crucial for understanding device efficacy.
- Comparing CI outcomes to traditional hearing aids (HAs) provides a benchmark for evaluating advanced hearing technologies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate and compare the speech perception abilities of children utilizing cochlear implants.
- To establish benchmarks for speech recognition in pediatric CI users by comparing them to children with conventional hearing aids.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of seven pediatric cochlear implant users with stable, long-term speech recognition scores were selected.
- Speech perception outcomes were assessed using open-set word recognition tests.
- The CI group was compared to a matched reference group of severely hearing-impaired children using conventional hearing aids, matched for mean free-field aided thresholds.
Main Results:
- Speech perception, specifically open-set word recognition, yielded comparable results between the cochlear implant and hearing aid groups.
- No significant differences in speech recognition scores were found between the two groups.
Conclusions:
- The speech recognition performance of selected pediatric cochlear implant users closely approaches optimal levels.
- When benchmarked against conventional hearing aid users, cochlear implants demonstrate significant efficacy in pediatric speech perception.
- These findings support the effectiveness of cochlear implantation for achieving near-optimal speech recognition in pediatric hearing loss rehabilitation.