The auditory performance in children using cochlear implants: effects of mental function

OBJECTIVE: Mental function is considered to affect the post-operative outcomes of deaf children with cochlear implants. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of mental function on the auditory performance in children with cochlear implants. METHODS: In a retrospective review of data, 26 pre-lingual deafened children received pre-operative evaluation of mental function and were divided into normal and retarded groups. Categories of auditory performance scale (CAP) was conducted at 1-year intervals after implantation. ANCOVA was used for statistic analysis. RESULTS: The average scores of auditory performance in normal group (n=14) were 3.93 (S.D. 1.07) and 5.86 (S.D. 0.95) at 1- and 2-year post-implantation. While the average scores in the retarded group were 2.5 (S.D. 1.51) and 4.17 (S.D. 1.85), both groups demonstrated obvious improvement in speech perception (F 103.12, P<0.001) during the first 2 post-operative years. The auditory performance in the normal group was significantly superior to the retarded group (F 8.67, P<0.01). However, the interaction between the duration of the device use and mental status showed no significant difference in the auditory perception performance (F 1.575, P=0.222). CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed the mental function plays as one of the predictive parameters of auditory performance in profoundly hearing impaired children after cochlear implantation.