Instruments to assess the oral language of children fitted with a cochlear implant: a systematic review

Abstract

The oral language development depends on the effective development of the hearing system. In cases of children presenting with hearing loss, a cochlear implant is an electronic device indicated to (re)habilitate the hearing function. Thus, it is of paramount importance to assess and follow the oral language development of children fitted with a cochlear implant (CI) to measure the effectiveness of the electronic device and support the therapeutic planning of these children. Questions are currently being raised about the instruments to assess the oral language of children using a CI, and, seeking the answers, this systematic review aimed at surveying these instruments. Searches were performed in three different databases utilizing six different descriptors to select articles published from 2004 to 2009 that performed an oral language assessment of children with a CI. Initially, 373 articles were found, and, after the application of inclusion criteria, 47 articles were analyzed, resulting in a survey of 74 instruments for oral language assessment, including tests, questionnaires and inventories. In analyzing the articles, it was realized that the studies included in this systematic review presented varied methodologies and low levels of evidence, with a greater concentration of instruments assessing receptive and expressive language, emphasizing the survey of the child's vocabulary and questionnaires. Thus, it can be verified that other linguistic skills, such as morphosyntactic, semantic, and narrative-pragmatic ones that are important in structuring speech and language for the effectiveness of the child's speech, are not being focused on. Just one of the instruments cited, a questionnaire, was specific for the oral language assessment of children with cochlear implants.

Using narrative to investigate language skills of children who are deaf and with hard of hearing

“…Although the comparison studies conducted with one norm group are beneficial, they do not provide information about sub-skills and errors. Morpheme and syntax error analyses provide important information for determining the purposes of intervention programs (Da Silva et al, 2011). Similar to this study, Boons et al (2013) stated that the children with CI had difficulty in the use of the suffixes and they made more errors in organizing the syntactic structures than the normally hearing children and their narrative skills were insufficient.…”

“…However, research rarely focuses on morphology, syntax, narrative skills, while these skills are important to structure speech and language and contribute to the effectiveness of children's language (Da Silva, Comerlatto-Junior et al, 2011). Few studies evaluated several language domains.…”

A Classification Model for Infant Cries with Hearing Impairment and Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

“…Infants with HI suffer from dysfunctions of (parts of) the hearing system and have delayed onset of babbling and cooing [16,17,18]. In addition, HI may lead to disturbances in speech and language acquisition [19]. UCLP originates from malformations in the oral-pharyngeal system and often leads to articulatory disorders during language acquisition [20].…”

Escala de desenvolvimento auditivo e de linguagem na criança implantada

“…Nevertheless, if we consider the standard deviation described in Table 1, it is possible to verify that many children of the EG reached the CG results. This fact reinforces the need for constant evaluation and follow-up of cases of children with CI (12)(13)(14)(15) , in order to map the evolutions and offer subsidies for therapeutic approach.…”