Preoperative factors influencing the rate and speed of available communication ability in prelingual paediatric cochlear implantation recipients.

Background: Few studies have assessed factors influencing the rate and speed of good outcomes in cochlear implantation (CI) children.

Objective: To analyse the factors influencing the rate and speed of available communication in CI children.

Material and methods: The study involved 316 children. The categories of auditory performance (CAP) and speech intelligibility rating (SIR) were used to evaluate outcomes. Multivariable proportional Cox regression models were established to analyse the effect of preoperative factors.

Results: Five variables were entered into the three multivariable models of CAP ≥6, SIR ≥4 and concurrent CAP ≥6 and SIR ≥4. Older age at implantation was a significant poor factor in the three models with estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of .541, .629, and .554, respectively. Another negative factor was poor parental literacy for the three outcomes (HR .639, .638, and .542, respectively). More than 3 months of rehabilitation from institutes had a positive effect on CAP ≥6 and concurrent CAP ≥6 and SIR ≥4 (HR 1.626 and 1.667, respectively).

Conclusions and significance: Older age at implantation and poor parental literacy were negative factors. Receiving regular rehabilitation from institutes pre-CI could help the children gain available communication ability earlier on.