ObjectiveTo examine the direct and indirect effects of demographical factors on speech perception and vocabulary outcomes of Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs).Methods115 participants implanted before the age of 5 and who had used CI before 1 to 3 years were evaluated using a battery of speech perception and vocabulary tests. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses proposed.ResultsEarly implantation significantly contributed to speech perception outcomes while having undergone a hearing aid trial (HAT) before implantation, maternal educational level (MEL), and having undergone universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) before implantation had indirect effects on speech perception outcomes via their effects on age at implantation. In addition, both age at implantation and MEL had direct and indirect effects on vocabulary skills, while UNHS and HAT had indirect effects on vocabulary outcomes via their effects on age at implantation.ConclusionA number of factors had indirect and direct effects on speech perception and vocabulary outcomes in Mandarin-speaking children with CIs and these factors were not necessarily identical to those reported among their English-speaking counterparts.

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Noise reduction systems have been implemented in hearing aids to improve signal-to-noise ratio and listening comfort. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of hearing aid noise reduction for Mandarin speakers. The results showed a significant improvement in acceptable noise levels and speech reception thresholds with noise reduction turned on. Sound quality ratings also suggested that most listeners preferred having noise reduction turned on for listening effort, listening comfort, speech clarity, and overall sound quality. These results suggest that the noise reduction system used in this study might improve sentence perception in steady-state noise, noise tolerance, and sound quality, although not all listeners preferred aggressive noise reduction. However, due to large interindividual variation, clinical application of the results should be on an individual basis.

Findings from this review will contribute to the establishment of appropriate short-term developmental goals for Mandarin-speaking children with CIs in mainland China and clinicians could use them to determine whether children have made appropriate progress with CIs.