Predictors of cochlear implant use in children

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of effective use of a cochlear implant in a sample of 29 profoundly deaf children, who had been using their devices an average of 2 years. The relationship between the variables of age of onset of deafness, etiology, and communication mode measured prior to implant surgery were correlated with a behavioral measure of cochlear implant use in everyday situations. In addition, in a subset of the full sample, nonverbal intelligence subtest scores calculated prior to implant surgery were evaluated for their contribution to subsequent use of the cochlear implant. The results suggested that communication mode, time using the implant device, and performance on two subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) accounted for substantial proportions of the variance in parent ratings of implant usage. The implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.