Comparison of primary musicality development between children with cochlear implants and children with normal hearing

Abstract

Background: It is beneficial for CI patients listen to music. However it is necessary to take steps to improve the musicality of CI patients.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to evaluate the primary musicality of children with cochlear implants versus those with normal hearing.

Material and methods: Children participating in this study were divided into two groups: the cochlear implant group (CI group) and the normal hearing group (NH group). The ‘Musical Ears Evaluation Form for Professionals’ was used to evaluate the subjects’ primary musicality.

Results: The scores for overall and the three subcategories of primary musicality in children with cochlear implants and in those with normal hearing also improved significantly over time (p < .05). The score for overall primary musicality was not significantly different between CI and NH groups in the same hearing age (p > .05). There were significant differences between the two groups in the same chronological age (p < .05).

Conclusions and significance: The primary musicality in children with cochlear implants was not significantly different from normal hearing ones at the same hearing age. The primary musicality in children with cochlear implants was significantly lower than that of children with normal hearing at the same chronological age.

Chinese abstract

背景：听音乐有益于CI患者, 但是有必要采取措施改善CI患者的音乐性。

目的：本研究的目的是评估CI儿童与听力正常儿童相比的主要音乐性。

材料和方法：参加这项研究的儿童分为两组：耳蜗植入组（CI组）和正常听力组（NH组）。“专业人员音乐耳评估表格”被用来评估受试者的主要音乐性。

结果：耳蜗植入儿童和听力正常儿童的整体和三个主要音乐类别的分值随着时间的推移, 有显著改善（p <.05）。相同听力年龄的CI和NH组的总体主要音乐得分差异不显著。（p> .05）。两组之间在按时间顺序排列的年龄上存在显著差异（p <.05）。

结论和意义：人工耳蜗儿童的主要音乐性与同听力年龄的正常听力儿童相比, 差异不明显。人工耳蜗儿童的主要音乐性显著低于同龄正常听力儿童。

Keywords:

• Children
• cochlear implant
• primary musicality
• questionnaire

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the children and their families who participated in this study. The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge Wenfang Wu from Capital Medical University for the statistical analyses. We thank our teachers, colleagues; they all make great contribution to experimental design, clinical guidance, technical support, and paper revision.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article is supported by the capital citizen health program to foster from Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission (No. Z141100002114033).