Pediatrics (P)
Emily H. Kaplan, BS (she/her/hers)
Au.D. Student
The University of Texas at Dallas
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Sarah E. Crow, BS (she/her/hers)
AuD/PhD Student
The University of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Andrea D. Warner-Czyz, PhD, CCC-A
Associate Professor
The University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas
Richardson, Texas
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Kim Fiorentino, AuD
Pediatric Cochlear Implant Audiologist
UTD/Callier Center
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Shari C. Kwon, AuD
Pediatric Cochlear Implant Audiologist
The University of Texas at Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Stephanie Williams, AuD, ABAC, PASC
Lead Pediatric Audiologist
Callier Center for Communication Disorders
Dallas, Texas
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Amanda Frost, AuD, CCC-A, AIB-VAM
Pediatric Audiologist
Callier Center for Communication Disorders
Dallas, Texas
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Rene H. Gifford, PhD (she/her/hers)
Professor
Vanderbilt University Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
Nashville, Tennessee
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Kristin Uhler, PhD (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, Children's Hospital Colorado
University of Colorado Anschutz
Aurora, Colorado
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Children who are deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) with comorbidities show poorer outcomes, greater variability, and less predictability in auditory outcomes than peers without comorbidities. However, no studies to date evaluate auditory progress using a standardized testing protocol. This study uses retrospectively collected clinical data to track progress through the Pediatric Minimum Speech Test Battery in children who are DHH with genetic or comorbid conditions. Preliminary data show children with genetic hearing loss outperform those with comorbidities, whose progress predominantly relies on parent report measures. Results support the need to analyze developmental trajectories differently based on etiology and presence of comorbidities.
Summary:
Introduction. The Pediatric Minimum Speech Test Battery (PMSTB) is a standardized pediatric protocol for monitoring a child’s auditory progress via speech discrimination, word and sentence recognition in quiet, and sentence recognition in noise (Uhler et al., 2017). Each measure in the test battery reports an expected age range that may or may not correspond to the chronologic age or listening age (duration of device experience) of children who are deaf/hard of hearing (DHH). The disconnect from chronologic and listening age is exacerbated in children with comorbid conditions, who comprise 30-40% of pediatric cochlear implant (CI) users. Traditionally, clinicians rely on objective measures and parent report to guide knowledge of audiologic progress because children who are DHH with comorbidities historically show poorer outcomes, greater variability, and less predictability in their auditory, speech, and language outcomes (Cejas et al., 2015; Corrales & Oghalai, 2013). It is unclear how children with comorbidities attain auditory skills after device fitting. This study uses retrospectively collected clinical data as a first attempt to track the progress of children who are DHH with genetic or comorbid conditions through the PMSTB protocol.
Methods. Data collection is ongoing, but the sample currently includes 28 children who are DHH using hearing technology with either genetic etiology (e.g., Connexin 26) or comorbid conditions (e.g., congenital cytomegalovirus, auditory neuropathy, autism, various syndromes). Of the current sample, 8 use at least 1 hearing aid (HA) and 19 use at least 1 CI. Most participants were identified at birth, received the first HA by 8 months (range 5-40 months) and first CI by 15 months (range 11-47 months). The PMSTB includes a hierarchical test battery that includes parent report measures, a speech discrimination task, and closed- and open-set speech recognition measures.
Results. Children with genetic hearing loss outperformed children with comorbid conditions, with 80% achieving open-set and the remaining 20% attempting closed-set speech recognition tasks by 3-6 years of age and 1-4 years device experience. Seven children with comorbidities achieved closed-set speech recognition by 3-6 years of age and 2-3 years of device experience. The remaining 16 participants could not complete behavioral testing so measures of auditory progress relied on parent report measures.
Conclusion. Preliminary results show vast variability in auditory skills and speech recognition outcomes in children who are DHH. Children with genetic hearing loss were the only participants who attained age-appropriate auditory skills. Some children who are DHH with comorbidities could complete behavioral testing but required longer durations of device experience compared to the group with Connexin 26. Results support the need to analyze developmental trajectories differently based on etiology of hearing loss and presence of comorbidities.