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Abstract
Objective: To determine the influence of choice of prescription and other child-, family- and intervention-related factors on speech, language, and functional performance of hearing-impaired children by three years of age. Design and study sample: A randomized controlled design was implemented as part of a population-based, longitudinal study on outcomes of children with hearing impairment (LOCHI) in Australia. Two hundred and eighteen children were randomly assigned to either the NAL or the DSL prescription for first fitting of hearing aids. Their performance outcomes were evaluated. Results: Prescriptive targets were closely matched in children's hearing aids. There were no significant differences in children's language, speech production, or functional performance between prescriptions. Parents’ ratings of children's device usage and loudness discomfort were not significantly different between prescription groups. Functional performance within the first year of fitting together with degree of hearing loss, presence of additional disabilities, and maternal education explained 44% of variation in language ability of children by three years of age. Conclusions: There was no significant association between choice of hearing-aid prescription and variance in children's outcomes at three years of age. In contrast, additional disability, maternal educational level, and early functional performance were significant predictive factors of children's outcomes.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully thank all the children, their families, and their teachers for participation in this study. We are also indebted to the many persons who served as clinicians for the study subjects, or assisted in other clinical or administrative capacities at Australian Hearing, Hear and Say Centre, the Shepherd Centre, and the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre. Thanks are due to Nicole Mahler-Thompson, Julia Orsini, Helen-Louise Usher, Jo Ashdown, Cassandra Cook, Karen McGhie, Sonya Cornick, Gillian Zavos, Emma van Wanrooy, Leanne Skinner, and Robyn Massie for their assistance in data collection. We acknowledge the financial support of the Commonwealth of Australia through the establishment of the HEARing CRC and the Cooperative Research Centres Program. The project described was supported by Award Number R01DC008080 from the National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders or the National Institutes of Health. Support for this research was also provided by New South Wales Department of Health, Australia, Phonak Ltd., and the Oticon Foundation.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.