Introduction: Cochlear implant (CI) has as its primary objective to promote access to sounds with consequent language development. However, outcomes are not constant, reflecting the singularity of each child, their families and the social context they come from. Many variables have been previously explored to try to determine the role of each of them in language outcomes. Nevertheless, most of the research performed on these topics is carried out in developed countries. Considering that sociodemographic and sociocultural aspects seem to play an important role in child development, it is important that more studies are conducted in developing countries.
Objective: To explore the characteristics related to better language outcomes in a sample of pediatric patients with prelingual deafness from a public cochlear implant program in southern Brazil.
Methods: Retrospective cohort study with children who underwent CI surgery between 2010 and 2020. Data was collected through of interviews and review of medical records. The language development assessment was performed using the MUSS, MAIS and IT-MAIS scales and its results were compared with the ones from a previous study so a Z-score could be calculated to determine if language outcomes were as expected for the time of experience with the CI. To explore association between Z-scores and patients characteristics (clinical, sociodemographic and sociocultural) we initially we used Pearson's correlations coefficient. This approach was followed by multivariable linear regression with stepwise forward selection.
Results: Of the 189 children implanted between 2010 and 2020, 129 were included in this study. The rate of loss to follow-up in the program was 31.7%. The mean age at first CI surgery was 40.5 (±16.9) months. Characteristics associated to better language outcomes such as reading habit, exposure to bilingualism and speech therapy were found for this sample.
Conclusion: Further analysis should be conducted to evaluate if the variables that were found in this study confirm their importance for language development in this population.
Keywords: Cochlear implant; Prelingual deafness; Language development disorders.