Effects of age at implantation in young children.
This study examined the effects of age at implantation on the development of communication abilities in children with early implantation. The 73 participants were prelingually deafened, received a cochlear implant before 5 years of age, and used current cochlear implant technology. The children were administered a battery of speech and language outcome measures before implantation and again at successive 6-month postimplant intervals. A mixed model analysis was used to examine the rate of growth in word recognition and language skills as a function of age at time of implantation. The results revealed significant improvements in communication skills over time. Spoken word recognition improved at a faster rate in the oral children with early implantation. However, the children who underwent implantation before 3 years of age had significantly faster rates of language development than did the children with later implantation. The oral children demonstrated more rapid gains in communication abilities than did the children who used total communication.
Kirk
Karen Iler
KI
Department of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, Indianna University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, USA.
Miyamoto
Richard T
RT
Lento
Cara L
CL
Ying
Elizabeth
E
O'Neill
Tara
T
Fears
Beverly
B
D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D013067:Speech Perception; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014705:Verbal Behavior