Comparison of Word Complexity and Speech Intelligibility in Deaf Children with Cochlear Implant and Hearing Aids
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Date
2025-01-31
0000-0001-8508-1468 Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Brieflands
Abstract
Background: Most people with profound hearing loss have problems in speech intelligibility that related to their phonological ability and linguistic skill. The objectives of this research are to assess the clarity of speech and the complexity of words in children with hearing impairments who use cochlear implants (CI) and those who use hearing aids (HA). Objectives: Additionally, it aims to explore the connection between speech clarity and word complexity in these children. Methods: A total of fifty children with hearing loss (average age = 4.5 ± 0.8 years) were divided into two equal groups: One group consisting of 25 children with CI and another group with 25 children using hearing aids. Speech intelligibility of participants was evaluated by the repetitive word list. The criterion for examining the word complexity was the syllable number of each word. Results: The results showed that the CI group had better speech intelligibility than the HA group. There is a significant positive correlation between word complexity and speech intelligibility in hearing impaired children (P < 0.001). Conclusions: According to the results of this study, the CI children showed better speech intelligibility than HA because of the effectiveness of implantation on auditory input. On the other hand, the word complexity also contributes to the level of speech intelligibility. Therefore, experts working in the field of management and clinical education of these children need to consider the word complexity and other factors affecting the speech intelligibility.