Otolaryngology Online Journal

The impact of family factors on language outcomes in children with cochlear implants in Saudi Arabia

Webinar on Otorhinolaryngology: ENT Surgery and Cosmetics
February 09, 2022

Norah H Alhowaish

SLP BSc, KFMC, KSA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts : Otolaryngology Online

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: As the number of cochlear implantations increased over the last years, the importance of speech and language rehabilitation and family involvement increased substantially. Despite this fact, the effectiveness of speech and language therapy is based on multiple factors, but most importantly is the family. This study aims to describe the factors in the family environment of children with cochlear implants (CI) in Saudi Arabia and evaluate the association between these factors and language outcomes. Method: A retrospective study based on the review of prelingually deaf children who were implanted before the age of five years with no additional disabilities. Children were recruited from the communication and swallowing disorders department within the sound of life program at King Fahad Medical City between 2008 to 2019. The study data were obtained through the patient database, however; demographic information was collected by calling the caregivers. The language performance was evaluated using REEL and ISD. Findings: A total of 26 children with cochlear implants were studied. five children presented with language level below their hearing age. Among the family factors, visiting private speech clinics in addition to KFMC were statistically significant after applying the multivariate logistic regression analysis. However, this effect had a negative direction. The remaining family factors failed to have any significant impact on a child’s language performance. Conclusion: This study is the first to demonstrate the effect of family factors on language performance post CI in Saudi Arabia. Postoperative language outcomes were significantly associated with visiting speech clinics in combination with KFMC but in an inverse way. This study provides a strong implication that the abundance and variance of speech therapy (ST) services may not lead to the best language performance. As a result, ST services should be evaluated and unified between clinics, so children could find the optimum communication outcomes.

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