Article
The impact of spoken language competency for the speech comprehension of early deafened adults with cochlar implant
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Published: | August 3, 2011 |
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Introduction: In early deafened patients, it is challenging to precisely predict the benefit after cochlear implantation when it comes to open speech understanding. In the present retrospective study we investigated the influence of the spoken language competency in this group of patients on their speech comprehension.
Materials and Methods: Data of 111 Patients with a good compliance were analysed retrospectively. The mean age at onset was 0.3 years of age. Preoperatively, the mean pantonal, unaided threshold measured was 94 dB. The mean age at implantation was 29.2 years of age. The speech comprehension was measured in clinical routine using the Freiburger Numbers and Monosyllables in quiet (65 dB SPL) and the HSM-Sentences test in quiet (65 dB SPL), and in noise (10 dB S/NR). Patients were divided into four groups according to their speech intelligibility and grammatical skills which were rated by the specialist staff of the Hannover Ear Institute.
Results: In patients with the highest spoken language competency (Group 1, n=23), the highest mean scores were assessed in all four tests. These patients achieved a mean score of 50% in the repetition of sentences in quiet after a few years of experience with the implant. Three patients of Group 1 could partially comprehend sentences in noise. Patients of Group 2 (n=51) commonly made correct use of grammatical structures, having more noticeable deficits in prosody and articulation. The score in the repetition of sentences in quite averaged 30%. Patients of Group 3 (n=27) were using grammatical structures incorrectly and showed an even higher degree of insufficiency in prosody and articulation. These patients could hardly understand sentences and monosyllables but were able to repeat around 30% of the numbers on average. Patients of Group 4 (n=10; heavy deficits up to no spoken language) commonly weren’t able to achieve open speech understanding at all.
Summary: Early deafened adults can gain significant profit from cochlear implantation when it comes to their ability to understand spoken language. Amongst other factors, the spoken language competency of the patient itself seems to be of higher predictive relevance and should be evaluated preoperatively.