Early Prelingual Auditory Development of Infants and Toddlers With Unilateral Hearing Loss

Early Prelingual Auditory Development of Infants and Toddlers With Unilateral Hearing Loss: Objective:

To assess the influence of congenital and permanent unilateral hearing loss (UHL) on early prelingual auditory development (EPLAD) of infants and toddlers.

Study Design:

A cross-sectional and case-controlled design.

Setting:

Tertiary referral center.

Patients:

Sixty-five young children (median with interquartile ranges: 4.4 [3.3, 7.7] mo) with UHL, 70 children (6.0 [3.8, 9.0] mo) with bilateral normal hearing (BNH) and 32 children (5.8 [3.9, 12.1] mo) with bilateral mild hearing loss (BMHL) were enrolled and grouped. Children with UHL were further grouped according to the severity of impairment and the ear that was impaired.

Interventions:

Children involved were assessed by the 9-item Infant-toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (ITMAIS).

Main Outcome Measures:

1) EPLAD assessed by ITMAIS, 2) functions of sound detection, sound discrimination and identification and preverbal vocalization assessed by dividing ITMAIS into three sections, 3) trajectories of EPLAD estimated by ITMAIS.

Results:

Compared with BNH, children with UHL lagged behind in the function of sound discrimination and identification, preverbal vocalization, as well as trajectory of EPLAD. Children with severe to profound UHL exhibited more severe EPLAD handicaps than children with mild to moderate losses. The auditory functions and EPLAD trajectory of children with UHL were similar to those with BMHL.

Conclusions:

Children with congenital and permanent UHL demonstrate delays in EPLAD, which are evident soon after birth before initial development of speech and language. The ITMAIS is an appropriate tool to identify these delays both in children with unilateral and bilateral hearing impairment.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Yun Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., Hearing Center/Hearing & Speech Laboratory, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; E-mail: 1141679315@qq.com

Source of support: None.

Source of funding: The study was jointly funded by International Cooperative Funding (The longitudinal study of methods, outcomes and laws of rehabilitation in hearing impaired infants, funding number: 312130182), Science & Technology Bureau of Sichuan Province (The outcome assessment of speech and language rehabilitation in children after cochlear implantation, funding number: 2018SZ0387), and West China Hospital of Sichuan University (The norm of outcome assessment of auditory and speech rehabilitation in hearing impaired children from 0 to 3 years, funding number: 2018HXFH043).

The authors disclose no conflicts of interest.

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