Correlation of auditory skills and verbal communication abilities in pediatric unilateral cochlear implants

Background: Hearing is crucial for child’s speech and language development. The child's actions during the first few months and early years are reflexive; the child's hearing directly influences the development of language and speech abilities (Robbins et al, 2000). The Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS) (Robbins et al, 1991) and the Meaningful Use of Speech Scale (MUSS) (Robbins and Osberger, 1991) are valid and reliable parent interviewed based questionnaires were performed. The aim of the study is to correlate the auditory skills and verbal communication abilities in pediatric unilateral cochlear implant recipients. Methods: The cross-sectional study includes the 69 unilateral cochlear implant recipients chronological aged 4 to 8 years this further divided into three groups: Group I (Implant age of <1 year), Group II (Implant age of 1 to 2 years), Group III (Implant age of >2 years). Results: There is a significant improvement in both auditory and verbal communication outcomes with increased cochlear implant use, particularly in all three groups shows statistically significant difference (p <0.05). A positive correlation between MAIS and MUSS was found in Groups I and II, but not in Group III. The correlation cannot be obtained, as there is limited verbal output present in >2 years cochlear implant recipients. Conclusions: The study highlighted the correlation among the auditory skills and verbal communication skills in the unilateral cochlear implant recipients shows the continuum improvement with cochlear implant use.