Assessment of Auditory Skills Following Cochlear Implant in Children in Abu Dhabi (UAE)
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- Category: Vol. 80, December 2012
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Assessment of Auditory Skills Following Cochlear Implant in Children in Abu Dhabi (UAE),AMR A. ANTER, RASHA F. SAFWAT and MONDY HAMAAD
Abstract
Background: Cochlear implants are now firmly established as the treatment of choice in the rehabilitation of childern with bilateral profound sensori-neural hearing impairment.
Objective: To track the development of auditory skills in children following cochlear implantation.
Subjects and Methods: The study included 48 children attending the phoniatric clinic, Mafraq hospital, Abu Dhabi (UAE). Their age ranged between 2-4 years. The study lasted for 15 months from September 2010 to November 2011. All children had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss since birth. None of the subjects had prior Cochlear implant, but all had tried conventional hearing aid. All subjects were implanted unilateral and bilateral, sequential/simultaneous with CI devices including MED EL and Nucleus. All met the criteria of cochlear implant.
Results: All items of the studied auditory skills improved significantly by time. There is significant improvement between 3-6 months in the scores of detection, discrimination, identi-fication and comprehension skills. Significant improvement in comprehension is also found between 6 and 9 months; and between 9 and 12 months interval. PAS score had weak negative correlation with age.
Conclusion: Children fitted with cochlear implants showed significant improvement in acquisition of auditory skills over a period of 12 months. The age and the side of the implant are the most significant factors.