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Speech Intelligibility in Children With Cochlear Implants Compared to Normal-Hearing Peers Matched for Chronological Age and Hearing Age Publisher



Tavakoli M1 ; Jalilevand N1, 2 ; Kamali M3 ; Modarresi Y4 ; Zarandy MM5, 6
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3. Department of Rehabilitation Management, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4. Department of Linguistics, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran
  5. 5. Otorhinolaryngology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  6. 6. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Amir A’lam Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: Auditory and Vestibular Research Published:2022


Abstract

Background and Aim: Cochlear implants (CIs) can lead to the development of verbal communication in areas such as sound repertoire, speech intelligibility (SI), and conversational skills. The SI refers to the ability to make recognizable speech sounds. Children with CIs may experience poorer SI than normal-hearing (NH) children. This study aims to compare the SI between children with CIs and NH peers matched for chronological age and hearing age. Methods: The speech samples of 40 monolingual Persian-speaking children, including 20 children with CIs and 20 NH children were used in this study. The children’s SI was analyzed using three measures of the percentage of correct consonants, percentage of correct vowels, and percentage of intelligible words. One speech-language pathologist and two non-professional listeners transcribed each speech sample. Results: The results showed no significant difference in any measures of SI between CI children and NH hearing age-matched peers, but there was a significant difference between CI children and NH chronological age-matched peers (p<0.05). Conclusion: The SI in Persian-speaking children with CIs is the same as in NH hearing age-matched peers, but it was poorer compared to NH chronological age-matched peers. If the children with hearing impairments receive CIs sooner, their SI can be greater. Cochlear implantation improves SI by increasing the hearing experience. © 2022 Tehran University of Medical Sciences.