Psychosocial Outcomes in Long-Term Cochlear Implant Users.
Irina Castellanos, William G Kronenberger, David B Pisoni
PMID 29189431WHAT IT FOUND
Long-term cochlear implant users had more parent-reported attention, hyperactivity, and social and adaptive skill concerns than normal-hearing peers, but many had none.
Better language and working-memory skills were linked to fewer concerns.
Key findings
01Compared with normal-hearing peers, long-term cochlear implant users showed more parent-reported behavior problems and lower adaptive skills, except for anxiety and somatization.
02Cochlear implant users were 2.35 to 4.56 times more likely than normal-hearing peers to show elevations in adaptive skills, hyperactivity-impulsivity, oppositional behavior, and attention problems.
03In cochlear implant users, better language and working-memory skills were associated with stronger adaptive skills and fewer attention, oppositional, and behavioral symptoms.
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
The study compared two groups at one time, so it cannot show that cochlear implantation caused the psychosocial differences. Psychosocial outcomes were based on parent report, so parent expectations or awareness of behavior may affect the ratings. The sample was relatively small and included a wide age range, so developmental differences may be hidden. Many checklists and neurocognitive variables were compared, which increases the chance that some associations are due to chance. The normal-hearing group size differed slightly across checklists, with 53 children for BASC-2 and 52 for CHAOS. The implant group had to live in a spoken English household and pass a screening for other developmental, neurological, or cognitive conditions, so it may not represent children with implants who have additional disabilities or different communication environments.
Declared interests
The article is marked as supported by NIH extramural research. The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cochlear implantation causes these psychosocial problems or that a child with a cochlear implant is likely to have them. The study compared two groups at one time and found a higher rate of parent-reported attention, hyperactivity, oppositional behavior, and adaptive-skill concerns, but many implant users were not in at-risk or problem ranges.