Social skills in preschool children with unilateral and mild bilateral hearing loss

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic profile of the participants.

Variable	TH (n = 123)	UMHL (n = 14)	MSHL (n = 21)
Age, mean (SD) months	55.1 (3.5)	57.5 (5.1)	56.1 (6.9)
Boys	54.9 (3.5)	59.4 (5.4)	57.8 (7.1)
Girls	55.0 (3.5)	55.6 (4.4)	54.8 (6.8)
Male gender, no (%)	59 (48.0)	7 (50.0)	9 (42.9)
Gestation age, mean (SD) weeks	39.4 (3.0)	39.3 (2.4)	39.6 (3.0)
NICU stay, no (%)	11 (8.9)	3 (21.4)	6 (28.6)
Degree of hearing loss, no (%)
Unilateral		4 (11.4)
Mild (26–40 dB)		10 (28.6)
Moderate (41–55 dB)			15 (42.9)
Moderately severe (56–70 dB)			4 (11.4)
Severe (71–90 dB)			2 (5.6)
Hearing aid use, no (%)
Most waking hours		9 (64.3)	21 (100.0)
Half of waking hours or less		4 (28.6)	0 (0.0)
Missing		1 (7.1)	0 (0.0)
Age at detection, median (interquartile range), months		22.1 (14.4)	11.5 (15.6)

Note: TH = typical hearing; UMHL = unilateral and mild bilateral hearing loss; MSHL = moderate to severe hearing loss. NICU = neonatal intensive care unit.

Table 2. Psychometric properties and group values for social skills, vocabulary and age at amplification.

Instrument	Items	Range	α	TH (n = 123)	UMHL (n = 14)	MSHL (n = 21)
SSRS	40^a	0–120	.89	66.1 (11.2)^b	56.7 (13.3)^b	64.9 (13.8)^b
PPVT-III	120	0–120	.97	64.2 (19,7)^b	53.3 (24.9)^b	54.6 (21.0)^b
Parental education		1–11		7.0 (3.5)^c	5.3 (2.8)^c	6.5 (1.5)^c
Age at amplification		1–60			36 (14.5)^c	8 (26)^c

Note: TH = typical hearing; UMHL = unilateral and mild bilateral hearing loss; MSHL = moderate to severe hearing loss. SSRS = Social Skills Rating System. PPVT-III = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 3rd Edition.

^aThe form has 39 items; one item appears in two subscales.

^bMean values, SDs in parentheses.

^cMedian values, interquartile range in parentheses.