Language outcomes of children with cochlear implants, disabilities lag behind peers

Many children who had disabilities in addition to hearing loss and received a cochlear implant made some language progress over time, but lagged behind matched controls, according to a study presented at the 2009 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting held in Baltimore this week.

Jareen Meinzen-Derr, PhD,at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, called their data a “first step” in addressing the question of cochlear implants on language development among children with disabilities.

The researchers followed 20 children who received a cochlear implant before 54 months of age and who had a known developmental delay and compared them with hearing control patients, who were matched on cognitive ability and age. They used the Preschool Language Scale-IV as language quotients and compared the children’s language to developmental quotients.

The researchers noted four of the patients with cochlear implants had CHARGE syndrome, and five had symptomatic cytomegalovirus as causes for hearing loss.

Even though the study participants made significant gains in their language age post implantation, their language quotient improvement did not last over time (P>0.5). In fact, when compared to their chronologic age and nonverbal, cognitively-matched peers, researchers noted a median 24 point discrepancy for expressive language and 29 point discrepancy for receptive language skills (P<.0001) between the groups.

Meinzen-Derr said “future directions should focus on closing the gap in language abilities,” employing several therapeutic approaches. She said it is also key to understand the functional outcomes of those children who have other disabilities beyond their hearing impairments.

She said that their research was limited by the fact that the studies focused on quotients instead of standard scores. – Colleen Zacharyczuk

Meinzin-Derr J. #2340.5. Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD; May 2-5, 2009.