Cochlear Implantation in Children With Additional Disabilities: A Systematic Review

Children

Caragli, V., Monzani, D., et al. (2023).

Children, 10(10).

This systematic review investigates the effects of cochlear implantation (CI) on a variety of outcomes (e.g., auditory perception, speech production, adaptive skills, quality of life) in deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children and adolescents, birth to 18-years-old, with an additional diagnosis (i.e., autism, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, motor disorders, developmental delay, and intellectual disabilities).

No funding received

2012 to 2023

Published, English-language studies with an experimental design. Excludes reviews, meta-analyses, and case reports.

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Children who are DHH with an additional diagnosis demonstrated benefit from CI; however, they achieved smaller improvements at a decreased rate compared to the CI outcomes of children who are DHH without an additional diagnosis. While the data is limited, overall, "children with learning disabilities or ADHD may have greater rates of improvement and better outcomes after CI compared to children with ASD or cerebral palsy, especially in the presence of severe cognitive disability and/or developmental delay" (p. 22). In DHH children with an additional diagnosis, reported benefits of CI include enhanced environmental sound awareness, increased adaptive skills, enhanced social motivation, increased intent to communicate, and increased quality of life for the child and the child's family. The authors note limitations in the evidence including limited reporting of pre-CI and post-CI assessment data, heterogeneous participant characteristics (e.g., age of CI, sex, severity of hearing loss/diagnosis, outcome measures), inconsistent follow-up periods, and a lack of controls (i.e., children with typical hearing and additional diagnoses). Additional meta-analytical research is warranted.