A Predictive Model for Outcome of Cochlear Implantation in Children below the Age of 5 Years: A Multivariate Analysis in Indian Scenario

Abstract

Background: This prospective study is based on the assessment of outcome of cochlear implantation taking in account various scoring systems like category of auditory performance, speech intelligibility rating, and Meaningful Auditory Integration Score. Materials and Methods: 30 children who were implanted between Oct 2007-Mar 2008 at a tertiary referral centre for were included in the study. Various factors were analysed using above scoring system on the outcome and a predictive model was derived in context to Indian subcontinent. Results: Age at implantation, duration of auditory deprivation and residual hearing at the time of implantation affected the outcome significantly. Conclusion: The predictive model can be utilized to predict preoperatively the outcome of a surgical procedure in children and to prioritize the surgery amongst a long waitlist children.