Language skills of profoundly deaf children who received cochlear implants under 12 months of age: a preliminary study.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that children who receive a cochlear implant below the age of 2 years obtain higher mean receptive and expressive language scores than children implanted over the age of 2 years.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to compare the receptive and expressive language skills of children who received a cochlear implant before 1 year of age to the language skills of children who received an implant between 1 and 3 years of age.


METHODS
Standardized language measures, the Reynell Developmental Language Scale (RDLS) and the Preschool Language Scale (PLS), were used to assess the receptive and expressive language skills of 91 children who received an implant before their third birthday.


RESULTS
The mean receptive and expressive language scores for the RDLS and the PLS were slightly higher for the children who were implanted below the age of 2 years compared with the children who were implanted over 2 years old. For the PLS, both the receptive and expressive mean standard scores decreased with increasing age at implantation.
Miyamoto
Richard T
RT
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. rmiyamot@iupui.edu
Hay-McCutcheon
Marcia J
MJ
Kirk
Karen Iler
KI
Houston
Derek M
DM
Bergeson-Dana
Tonya
T
D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003638:Deafness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index