Passage comprehension performance in children with cochlear implants and/or hearing aids: the effects of voice quality and multi-talker babble noise in relation to executive function.

Purpose: Speech signal degradation such as a voice disorder presented in quiet or in combination with multi-talker babble noise could affect listening comprehension in children with hearing impairment. This study aims to investigate the effects of voice quality and multi-talker babble noise on passage comprehension in children with using cochlear implants (CIs) and/or hearing aids (HAs). It also aims to examine what role executive functioning has for passage comprehension in listening conditions with degraded signals (voice quality and multi-talker babble noise) in children using CI/HA.

Methods

Twenty-three children (10 boys and 13 girls; mean age 9 years) using CI and/or HA were tested for passage comprehension in four listening conditions: a typical voice or a (hoarse) dysphonic, voice presented in quiet or in multi-talker babble noise.

Results

The results show that the dysphonic voice did not affect passage comprehension in quiet or in noise. Multi-talker babble noise decreased passage comprehension compared to performance in quiet. No interactions with executive function were found.

Conclusions

In conclusion, children with CI/HA seem to struggle with comprehension in poor sound environments, which in turn may reduce learning opportunities at school.