İnkomplet partisyon tip II bulunan unilateral ve bimodal koklear implant kullanıcılarının konuşma, uzaysal algı ve işitme kalitesinin değerlendirilmesi

Evaluation of the speech, spatial and qualities of hearing in unilateral and bimodal cochlear implant users with incomplete partition type II Objective: The aim of this study was to perform a scale-based assessment of the hearing abilities of cochlear implant users with IP type II malformation and normal cochlea, including discrimination, orientation, and positioning of speech and environmental sounds in their environment. Material and Methods: A total of 30 cochlear implant users, 15 participants with IP-II inner ear anomalies and 15 participants with normal cochlea, aged 18-55 years were included in this study. All participants included in the study are unilateral CI and bimodal users. Participants were assessed using the Speech, Spatial, and Hearing Qualities Scale (SSQ). Results: When cochlear implant users with IP-II malformations and cochlear implant users with normal cochlea individually scored auditory abilities, the results were similar. It was observed that bimodal listeners tended to have all subdomains and overall SSQ scores compared to use of unilateral CI. Conclusion: It is very important to benefit from the advantages of binaural hearing in hearing sounds. It is thought that the use of scales as well as routine audiological evaluation batteries in the follow-up processes of cochlear implant users will be beneficial for audiologists. Keywords: Cochlear implant, speech perception, spatial perception, hearing quality

Effects of families’ socioeconomic and education level on auditory skills of cochlear implant users: an Iranian population study

Background and Aim: Hearing loss can have disabling effects on all aspects of children’s life and demographic factors of families can have significant effects on children’s auditory deve­lopment. The main aim of the study was deter­mining the effects of socioeconomic and educa­tion level on auditory behaviors of hearing-impaired children. Methods: The study was cross sectional descrip­tive-analytic study and was conducted on 207 parents of children under age of four years with native Persian speaking parents with literacy skill. Their hearing impairment was identified before the first month of age. Early occurrence of hearing loss was considered to exclude any effe­cts of early exposure to normal auditory stimuli on the outcome measurements. The children had at least 3-month experience with the cochlear implant (CI) after best fitting and adaptation to their device at the time of the study. Samples were selected by convenience sampling method from available subjects. For determining socioeconomic level, Ghodratnama socioeco­nomic status (SES) questionnaire was used. Infa­nts and Toddlers Meaningful Auditory Integ­ration Scale (IT-MAIS) was selected for the auditory beha­viors study. Results: Socioeconomic and educational level of the family showed no significant effects on audi­tory behaviors. The age of receiving auditory ass­istive device had weak but statistically signifi­cant effect on the outcome. Conclusion: It seems that socioeconomic status and educational level of the family did not con­tribute to the auditory behaviors of children with cochlear implant. The generalizations of these results need further studies. Keywords: Cochlear implant; pediatric; auditory behaviors; socioeconomic status