The impact of cochlear implants on speech and language outcomes in pre-lingually deafened Arabic-speaking children: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: Cochlear implants have been proven to improve speech and language in children with severe-to-profound hearing loss. This review examines speech and language outcomes in prelingual Arabic-speaking children using cochlear implants.

METHODS

A systematic search for articles was performed in PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) using search strings developed from topic keywords.

RESULTS

The initial search identified 247 articles from the databases, but only 8 studies were included in the review. Auditory performance was found to improve, particularly sound and speech detection, as observed in the post-implantation assessments. Speech perception improved with an increased ability to discriminate speech sounds and comprehend conversations without lip-reading. Moreover, word recognition and auditory integration improved as well as speech production skills in terms of vocabulary use, consonant articulation, and word combinations. Likewise, speech intelligibility results were positive, with several children showing better speech intelligibility post-cochlear implantation.

CONCLUSION

Following CI, auditory skills, speech perception, speech production, listening skills, and speech intelligibility improved. Cochlear implants are a promising solution to reduce the effects of hearing loss in this population.