ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives@#Currently limited information is available on speech stimuli processingat the subcortical level in the recipients of cochlear implant (CI). Speech processing inthe brainstem level is measured using speech-auditory brainstem response (S-ABR). The purposeof the present study was to measure the S-ABR components in the sound-field presentationin CI recipients, and compare with normal hearing (NH) children. Subjects and Methods:In this descriptive-analytical study, participants were divided in two groups: patients withCIs; and NH group. The CI group consisted of 20 prelingual hearing impairment children (meanage=8.90 ± 0.79 years), with ipsilateral CIs (right side). The control group consisted of 20healthy NH children, with comparable age and sex distribution. The S-ABR was evoked bythe 40-ms synthesized /da/ syllable stimulus that was indicated in the sound-field presentation. @*Results@#Sound-field S-ABR measured in the CI recipients indicated statistically significantdelayed latencies, than in the NH group. In addition, these results demonstrated thatthe frequency following response peak amplitude was significantly higher in CI recipients,than in the NH counterparts (p<0.05). Finally, the neural phase locking were significantlylower in CI recipients (p<0.05). Conclusions: The findings of sound-field S-ABR demonstratedthat CI recipients have neural encoding deficits in temporal and spectral domains atthe brainstem level; therefore, the sound-field S-ABR can be considered an efficient clinicalprocedure to assess the speech process in CI recipients. J Audiol Otol 2020;24(2):71-78
ABSTRACT
Due to defects of auditory feedback, children with hearing loss have inappropriate speech intonation. Consistently, results of previous studies have shown that cochlear implanted children have some difficulties in their intonation. Intonation shows the type of the sentence which can be statement or question sentences. The purpose of this study was comparison of speech intonation in cochlear-implanted children and normal hearing children. The present study was performed on 25 cochlear-implanted children and 50 normal hearing children. Different pictures were shown to the subjects and they said statement and question sentences. All sentences were heard by eight speech therapists and perceptually judged. Using praat software mean base frequency and pitch alterations were measured. In cochlear-implanted group, mean speech base frequency was higher and mean pitch alteration was lower than the control group. Mean experts' scores in cochlear-implanted group were lower than the control group. Differences in all three variables were statistically significant [p<0.05]. There was a significant direct correlation between duration of time that the children had cochlear implant and perceptual judgment scores [p<0.05]. According to the results, cochlear implant prosthesis has limited efficacy in improving speech intonation; although their ability to produce speech intonation improves by increasing duration of the time that children have cochlear implant. Thus speech therapists should consider intervening on speech intonation in treatment program of cochlear-implanted children.
ABSTRACT
Early diagnosis of hearing loss lead to early intervention and improvement of developmental skills of children with hearing loss. The present study aimed to determine the mean age of hearing loss diagnosis and cochlear implantation [CI] in hearing impaired children and to compare the age of performing cochlear implantation in children who were identified by newborn hearing screening with those who were not. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 96 children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss who received cochlear implantation in Amir-e-Alam cochlear implantation center between the years 2008 and 2010. For data gathering, we assessed subjects' medical archives, interviewed with their parents and took medical history including demographic information, birth history and hearing loss history. Mean age of hearing loss suspicion, diagnosis, hearing aids administration, Initiation of rehabilitation program, performing cochlear implantation and mean age when cochlear implantation was utilized were 6.73 [SD=5.79], 9.35 [SD=5.79], 13.41 [SD=6.10], 16 [SD=6.36], 41.25 [SD=11.12], and 42.15 [SD=11.00] months, respectively. There was statistically significant difference between them [p<0.05]. 43.8% of hearing impaired children had been identified by newborn hearing screening. There was statistically significant difference between cochlear implantation operation age of children who were identified by newborn hearing screening with those who were not [p<0.0001]. In spite of notable reduction in the age of hearing loss diagnosis and intervention during recent years, compared to international indices it is still tardy. Conducting newborn hearing screening can significantly reduce these ages.