Comparative analysis of vocabulary in children with cochlear implants

Abstract

Introduction: The use of tests assessing the speech of patients who underwent cochlear implant (CI) surgery is warranted to increase knowledge on the development of these patients' language skills. The ABFW Child Language Test evaluates vocabulary, phonology, fluency, and pragmatics and can be administered to these children. Objective: To evaluate the vocabulary of children using CI. Method: This study included 16 children who underwent CI surgery between 1-4 years and 11 months old. Patients were divided into five groups according to age upon CI activation. Results: In comparison with the age of brain's auditory development vs. chronological age of hearing children, all children using CI performed better. The comparison between children using unilateral CI and bilateral CI showed that those using bilateral CI had better results. When we compared children's performance considering the chronological age of deaf and hearing children, hearing children performed better. However, there were similar results when patients effectively used their CI and attended auditory rehabilitation sessions. Conclusion: In our study, the vocabulary of children using CI is similar to the vocabulary of hearing children.