Expressive vocabulary of children with hearing loss in the first 2 years of life: impact of early intervention.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine the expressive vocabulary of children with hearing loss (HL) enrolled in early intervention (EI) ≤ 3 vs >3 months in the first 24 months and to compare with hearing controls. It was hypothesized that the number of words produced would be higher for children with HL enrolled in EI ≤ 3 vs >3 months.


METHODS
This is a prospective longitudinal matched cohort study.


RESULTS
The children with HL produced fewer words than the children with hearing. In addition, children with HL enrolled in EI ≤ 3 months had a larger expressive vocabulary percentile score compared with children with HL enrolled >3 months. Children with mild HL enrolled in EI ≤ 3 months had the greatest growth in vocabulary between 12 to 16 and 18 to 24 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Although multiple factors are associated with expressive vocabulary growth of children with HL, enrollment in EI ≤ 3 months has sustained beneficial effects on expressive vocabulary at 18 to 24 months.
Vohr
B
B
Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Betty_Vohr@brown.edu
Jodoin-Krauzyk
J
J
Tucker
R
R
Topol
D
D
Johnson
M J
MJ
Ahlgren
M
M
Pierre
L St
LS
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational / Q000379:methods*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000150:complications / Q000151:congenital; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D007808:Language Therapy; D008423:Maternal Age; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D012107:Research Design; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014825:Vocabulary