Language and speech outcomes of children with hearing loss and additional disabilities: identifying the variables that influence performance at five years of age.
Linda Cupples, Teresa Y C Ching, Laura Button and 5 others
PMID 27630013WHAT IT FOUND
Five-year-olds with hearing loss and additional disabilities showed language delays far worse than their cognitive ability.
Milder hearing loss, higher nonverbal cognition, and oral-only communication predicted better outcomes. Earlier device fitting also helped. These factors guide prognosis and intervention intensity.
Key findings
01Language and speech outcomes were significantly delayed compared to typically developing peers, while nonverbal cognitive ability was relatively preserved.
02Severity of hearing loss, nonverbal cognitive ability, and communication mode were the strongest predictors of language outcomes across the cohort.
03Earlier age at device fitting was associated with better receptive language outcomes, a predictor not consistently found in younger cohorts.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Twenty-nine of the 146 participants were excluded from analysis because they could not complete the tasks or had missing data. These excluded children had more severe hearing loss, meaning the results may underestimate delays in the most severely affected children. The study design is observational, so it identifies associations but cannot prove that specific interventions cause better outcomes. The subgroup of children with cochlear implants was too small to run separate regression analyses, limiting conclusions about predictors for this specific group. Disability diagnoses were based on caregiver report and clinical records rather than formal validation within the study.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The research was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the Australian Research Council.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that hearing aid or cochlear implant status alone predicts language outcomes. Device type was not a significant predictor in the cohort analysis. Focus on cognitive ability, severity of hearing loss, and communication mode when planning intervention.