Which Factor Has a Greater Impact on Speech Perception in Noise in School-Aged Children With Cochlear Implants: Chronological Age or Age at Implantation?

Purpose: The aims of this study were to (a) investigate speech-in-noise pertion using an adaptive procedure in school-aged children with bilateral cochimplants (CIs); (b) evaluate the impact of chronological age, age at the seimplantation, and interimplant interval on auditory performance in children bilateral CIs; and (c) determine the correlation between speech recognition formance and subjective parental questionnaire scores. Method: A total of 24 school-aged children with bilateral CIs participated in study, divided into two groups: Group I (younger than 108 months of age12) and Group II (older than 108 months of age, n = 12). Speech recoperformance was assessed using sentences from the Turkish Hearing in NTest for Children under both quiet and noisy conditions at an adaptive sto-noise ratio. The auditory behavior of the children in daily life was evalby interviewing parents using the Parent’s Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performaof Children (PEACH) scale. Results: The Quiet and Noise Composite Scores of Group II were significantly ter than those of Group I (p =.033 and p =.041, respectively). However, no cant difference was observed between the PEACH scores of the groups (p = A significant correlation was found between PEACH scores and speech recognperformance under both quiet (p =.009) and noisy conditions (p =.021). Conclusions: Chronological age had a greater impact on speech recognition formance than age at the second implantation and interimplant interval, emphzing the role of age-related auditory development in speech perception. Addially, parental perspective questionnaires may serve as a practical and efficient for assessing functional hearing abilities in children, particularly in educational tings where standard speech perception tests may not always be feasible.