Background and Objectives: This study focused on the long-term development of auditory performance evaluated by CAP for children with cochlear implants.
Materials and Method:The subjects for this study were 39 children who received the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implants. All children were prelingually deaf and the mean age for these children at the time of implantation was 4 years 5 months (range from 23 months to 10 years 9 months). All children were categorized by means of CAP prior to implantation, and at 6 and 12 months following implantation, and annually thereafter. Thirty children had reached the 1-year stage whereas 24, 21, 14 children, and 8 were in the 2, 3, 4, and 5-year stages, respectively.
Results: Eighty-three percent could discriminate speech sounds at 12 months. Their auditory performances gradually developed over-5-year period. Sixty-seven percent of the children who reached the 3-year stage could understand common phrases without lip-reading. Fifty-seven percent of the children who reached the 5-year stage could understand conversation without lip-reading. It is important to consider that the respective percentages at the 3-year stage and the 5-year stage are much higher(93% and 80%), when the eleven children with additional disabilities and/or children who received implants after the age of 7 are excluded.
Conclusion: The long-term results of this study indicate that the majority of prelingually deaf children, who their cochlear implants before the age of 7 and/or without additional problems, can develop significant auditory performance.
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