Predicting speech perception outcomes following cochlear implantation using Nottingham children's implant profile (NChIP).

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Nottingham children's implant profile (NChIP) is a systematic framework to assess deaf children before implantation taking into account not only the well-known factors (age, duration of deafness) but also family and support services, expectations, children's cognitive abilities and learning style. The aim of the present paper is to assess the predictive value of the NChIP in the long-term outcomes of implanted children.

PATIENTS

This prospective and longitudinal study involved 51 profoundly deaf children, implanted within the same paediatric cochlear implant programme. All children were pre-lingually deaf with age at onset of deafness <2 years and age at implantation <6 years. Three and 4 years following implantation all children were assessed using two measures of speech perception. No child was lost to follow-up and no child was excluded from the study for any reason.

RESULTS

The most constant predictor of the outcomes was children's learning style explaining upto 29% of the variance. Other significant predictors of the outcome were shorter duration of deafness, young age at implantation and family structure/support.

CONCLUSIONS

Intrinsic factors in children and how well they communicate with their environment are of paramount importance to the outcome following implantation. The predictive value of NChIP has been demonstrated and the most important predictors of the outcome were children's learning style, short duration of deafness, young age at implantation, and family structure/support.