Phonological awareness and reading abilities in elementary-school students with severe-to-profound prelingual hearing loss and unilateral cochlear implants

Abstract

Background Research findings on the reading outcomes of cochlear implants are inconsistent. Controversy was observed in the reading performance of implanted children, both in relation to hearing aid users and normally hearing children. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the phonological awareness and reading skills of school-aged, severe-to-profound, prelingually deafened children using cochlear implants and to identify any associations between these skills and age of implantation, language development, and the chosen side of implantation. Patients who met the selection criteria were assessed using standardized phonological awareness and reading tests, and their scores were compared to normative data. Results Patients’ average scores were significantly behind age-matched normative data. Phonological awareness was strongly correlated to reading skills, and both were positively correlated to language abilities. Age at implantation was not correlated to phonological skills yet it was positively correlated to reading scores for patients over 9 years old. Conclusion Many cochlear implanted children are still struggling with reading. Phonological development should be considered in the rehabilitation of this group of patients as it was found to be closely associated with reading proficiency.