[The LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire : An analysis of multicentre data of children after early bilateral cochlear implant placement]. / Der LittlEARS® Hörfragebogen : Auswertung multizentrischer Daten von Kindern nach früher bilateraler Cochleaimplantatversorgung.

BACKGROUND: In order to optimise the support of children with cochlear implants (CI), it is very important to detect slow developmental processes as early as possible. Data from the LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire (LEAQ) from children with early bilateral CI are evaluated and presented in relation to age and hearing age and compared with language development data recorded later. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective multicentre study included data from a total of 554 children for whom at least one LEAQ was completed during the course of CI rehabilitation. Children without additional disabilities who received bilateral simultaneous or sequential CI treatment were included. RESULTS: As expected, there are high correlations between hearing age (HA) and the overall LEAQ total score. When analysed according to chronological age (CA), development runs roughly parallel to the development of children with normal hearing, albeit at a lower level. Children implanted early up to an age of ≤ 12 months consistently achieve approximately 7-8 raw points more. Only the LEAQ results of the later test times (from the age of 18 months) correlate with some areas of the speech development test for children (SETK; areas 3-5). CONCLUSION: The earliest possible detection of critical developmental processes in children with CI is extremely important. In the case of very early CI fitting, the CA should be used as a reference measure in diagnostics. The LEAQ values determined for the group of children with CI are suitable to a limited extent as generally valid reference values for children with early bilateral CI. Further studies should continue to work out the correlations between early preverbal development and later speech development.

[Early language performance in the ELFRA questionnaire : Analysis of multicentre data from children with bilateral cochlear implants]. / Frühe Sprachleistungen im Fragebogen ELFRA : Auswertung multizentrischer Daten von Kindern nach bilateraler Cochleaimplantatversorgung.

BACKGROUND: Very early bilateral cochlear implant (CI) provision is today's established standard for children. Therefore, the assessment of preverbal and verbal performance in very early stages of development is becoming increasingly important. Performance data from cohorts of children were evaluated and presented based on diagnostic assessment using chronological age (CA) and hearing age (HA). METHODS: The present study, as part of a retrospective multicentre study, included 4 cohorts (N = 72-233) of children with bilateral CI without additional disabilities. Their results in the German parent questionnaires Elternfragebögen zur Früherkennung von Risikokindern(ELFRA­1 and ELFRA-2) subdivided for CA and HA were statistically analysed. The data were also analysed in terms of mono-/bilingualism and age at CI provision. RESULTS: Overall, verbal performance in relation to CA was lower than in relation to HA. Preverbal skills were largely CA appropriate. Children with bi-/multilingual language acquisition performed significantly lower. Verbal performance in ELFRA­2 referenced to CA was negatively correlated with age at CI provision. CONCLUSION: In the case of early CI provision, CA should be the preferred reference mark in preverbal and verbal assessment in order to obtain exact individual performance levels and avoid bias in results. The percentiles determined are of limited use as generally valid reference values to which the individual performance of bilaterally implanted children could be compared. Further multicentre studies should be initiated.