A clinical study on congenital and neonatal deafness

The Clinical–Audiological Cross Sectional Study of Deaf-Mute Patients in a Tertiary Care Centre of Uttarakhand State and Literature Review

Deafmutism affects communication and wholesome development of an individual. India has a significant burden of deafness in the country. Even fourteen years after the launch of a National Program for Prevention and Control of Deafness in year 2006, we lack detailed data about the disability from most regions of the country. This study aims at finding out the prevalence, clinical history-examination and audiological profile of deaf-mute patients visiting the Out Patient Department (OPD) of a tertiary care institute in Uttarakhand, and compare the results with similar studies published during last 20 years from India to generate a literature review. Out of 46,049 patients that visited OPD of the institute during the given period of 24 months, 73 cases were short-listed clinically to be enrolled in the study. However, only 55 (75%) of them completed the questionnaire and audiological testing. All information was extracted from the patients/relatives with the help of a questionnaire in the Hindi language. The prevalence of deafmutism in patient presenting in our OPD in the study period was 0.3%. The history of pre-, peri- and post-natal risk factors was present in high percentage (58.2%, 78.2% and 34.5% respectively) of patients. This warrants review of our maternal and child healthcare strategies. The literature review revealed lack of uniform and standardized tool in conducting and reporting of studies on deafmutism. The questionnaire used in this study can be further improved and modified in the future as per the requirements of data collection.

The Effect of Age at Cochlear Implantation on Speech and Auditory Performances in Prelingually Deaf Children

To understand the effect of age at implantation on speech and auditory performances of 74 prelingually deaf Indian children after using cochlear implants for 3, 6 and 12 months. We also evaluate the causes of late implantation in this population. Seventy four children who underwent cochlear implantation from December 2013 to December 2015 in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head Neck Cancer in SMS Medical College, Jaipur were participated in this study. To compare the efficacy of cochlear implant, candidates are classified into 2 groups according to the age at the time of implantation: 1-4 years and 4.1-7 years. The sample size is 37 in both age groups. Their auditory performance and speech intelligibility were rated using the Revised Categories of Auditory Perception scales, Speech Intelligibility Rating scales and Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale. The evaluations were made before implantation and 3, 6 and 12 months after implantation. The scores when compared in both the groups revealed that the results were comparable and significant after 12 months of follow up while the scores were not significant after 3 and 6 months. The results were statistically significant when baseline is compared with different postoperative stages. The children implanted before the age of 4 years had significantly better auditory and linguistic performances. At least 12 months of audio-verbal rehabilitation and speech and language therapy are required to compare the effects of cochlear implant in any set of children. Our study shows that hearing impaired children who receive cochlear implantation below 4 years of age acquires better auditory ability for developing language skills.