Comparing the benefits of bilateral and unilateral cochlear implants in children

A two-year project grant has been awarded to Dr Margaret Tait at the Ear Foundation in Nottingham to carry out a study comparing the pre-verbal communication skills of bilaterally implanted children (two cochlear implants) with age-matched unilaterally implanted children (one cochlear implant).

[Project grant, 2007-2009]

Increasing numbers of children are receiving bilateral cochlear implants worldwide, but evidence of the benefit of bilateral implantation is limited and relates to speech perception in noise and sound localisation.

There is no evidence of comparative benefit in the development of early communication skills, which predict later skills of speech perception and intelligibility. Health care systems, parents/carers and professionals urgently need quality evidence comparing unilateral and bilateral cochlear implantation to influence their decision-making.

Video Analysis of children’s developing communication skills will be used to assess 30 prelingually deaf children aged under 3 years with bilateral implants before implantation and six and twelve months after. These results will be compared with 30 age-matched unilaterally implanted children. The children’s development of auditory processing in communication will be measured by Video Analysis.

This study will provide much-needed evidence on the potential benefits of bilateral cochlear implantation for children.