title: Early auditory preverbal skills development in Mandarin speaking children with cochlear implants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of auditory preverbal skills in Mandarin speaking infants/toddlers with cochlear implants (CIs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were recruited from the Pediatric Audiology Center of Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University. A total of 33 children with severe-to-profound hearing loss who received CIs participated in the study. The evaluation tools were LittlEARS(®) Auditory Questionnaire (LEAQ) and self-designed demographic information questionnaire. Evaluations were administrated immediately after the CI was switched on (0-month), and at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24-month intervals of CI use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean total scores of the LEAQ in 0, 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24-month were 1, 5, 10, 15, 21, 24, 30, and 33 points, respectively. The developmental trajectory of early auditory preverbal skills in the CI children was consistent with the published norm data of the LEAQ, and the expected value even slightly higher than the norms. Analysis showed that the parents' level of education and age of implantation influenced the final LEAQ score significantly (ANOVA, p<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Auditory preverbal skills improved dramatically after cochlear implantation in the first 2 years of implant use. Early implanted children exhibited a steeper and faster improvement in auditory preverbal developmental compared to the later implanted peers. This study described the developmental trajectories of preverbal auditory skills and confirmed the effectiveness of early implantation on the development of auditory preverbal skills. The results could provide guidance for auditory/speech rehabilitation in Mandarin speaking infants/toddlers who received CIs in their early age.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Haihong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Lulu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Wentong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Science, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, China. Electronic address: nixin@bch.com.cn.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ni
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000601:surgery*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Auditory preverbal skill; Children; Cochlear implant; LittlEARS(®) Auditory Questionnaire