The effects of age on auditory speech perception development in cochlear-implanted prelingually deaf children.

One of the most important factors in auditory speech perception of cochlear-implanted children is age. The goal of this study was to compare auditory speech perception among children implanted from 6 different age groups: 0 to 3, 4 to 5, 6 to 7, 8 to 9, 10 to 11, and >12 years. The subjects of this study were matched based on socioeconomic status, residual hearing before cochlear implantation, the kinds of cochlear implant device, speech processing strategy, communication mode after implantation, and primary language in family. All of them have used the device minimally for 2 years. The subjects were tested with a range of closed and open-set auditory speech perception tests, and the levels of auditory speech perception in different age groups were compared. Results showed that the children who received an implant at 0 to 3 years of age had maximum auditory speech perception.