Auditory Performance of Paediatric Cochlear Implant Users under the National Cochlear Implant Programme / Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Cochlear implant (CI) is the main intervention option for people with severe and profound sensorineural hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to investigate the auditory performance of a group of prelingually deafened paediatric cochlear implant users using direct speech perception measures (objective) and a parental questionnaire (subjective) and to identify significant demographic factors that might contribute to their performance. A total of 48 children from the Cochlear Implant Program under the Malaysian Ministry of Health with hearing age of 12 to 89 months (mean = 42.60 ± 19.46 months) participated in this study. The speech perception test was conducted using selected tests from the Malay version of the Evaluation of Auditory Response to Speech (EARS) while parental views of the children’s performance were collected using the Malay version of the Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) questionnaire. The recorded speech stimuli were presented to the children in a free field at approximately 65 dB SPL in a sound treated room. The speech perception test results were then categorized using the Malay version of the Categories of Auditory Performance Index (My-CAPI) with 10 categories ranging from ‘0’ to ‘9’. Results showed that most of the children (N = 20, 41.7%) were performing at category 2 of My-CAPI (limited closed set speech perception) with three children achieved the maximum category 9 (advanced open-set sentences in noise). Communication mode was the only demographic factor that significantly correlated with the My-CAPI and PEACH scores (p < 0.01). Pearson correlation coefficient showed a strong relationship between the PEACH scores and My-CAPI levels (p < 0.01; r = 0.71) suggesting that the PEACH questionnaire can be used as an indicator of the auditory performance if the speech perception tests cannot be performed. The findings suggest that the majority of the CI children tested in this study had not achieved satisfactory auditory performance and that the use of oral communication mode was the main factor associated with better auditory outcomes. Keywords Speech perception; children; cochlear implant; Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH); Categories of Auditory Performance Index (CAPI)