Speech perception and language criteria for paediatric cochlear implant candidature

Abstract

Existing criteria for cochlear implantation of children with impaired hearing aim to select children who will eventually achieve better speech perception scores with an implant than with a hearing aid. It is difficult to predict the eventual outcomes with hearing aid and implant because speech perception scores typically increase with age, and because the distribution of scores for implant and hearing aid users overlap considerably at all ages. This paper shows how speech perception scores can be combined with spoken language measures to arrive at an objective criterion for implant selection. The method also allows estimation of the likely increase in speech perception score within a few mon..