Results of cochlear implant in children over six years of age with deep prelingual hearing loss

Abstract

Introduction: the National Program of cochlear implant established in Cuba has benefited freely 216 children with severe and deep hearing loss. Objective: to compare the results obtained in children older than six years with deep prelingual hearing loss who have cochlear implant with a group of the same characteristics using another type of programmable digital prosthetic attachment. Methods: a prospective, descriptive and quasi-experimental study was realized at "José Luis Miranda" Hospital from October 2012 to September 2015. It was used a non-probabilistic sampling and the sample was 15 patients older than six years of age who underwent a cochlear implant (Group 1) and 25 of the same age who used a programmable digital hearing attachment (Group 2). A questionnaire was designed that included the variables: sex, age, age of implant, etiology, language, auditory performance and stage of rehabilitation. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the Mann-Whitney test were used. Results: all patients with cochlear implants passed the detection-discrimination stage, seven reached the identification-recognition stage (46.7%) and four reached the stages of discrimination-identification and recognition-comprehension, respectively (26.7%). Patients with digital prostheses failed to advance to higher levels of rehabilitation (80%). Conclusions: Patients older than six years old who received a cochlear implant achieved higher auditory performance, higher levels in the rehabilitation stages and achieved better communication than users of digital prostheses.