Audiovisual spoken word recognition as a clinical criterion for sensory aids efficiency in Persian-language children with hearing loss

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the role of audiovisual speech recognition as a clinical criterion of cochlear implant or hearing aid efficiency in Persian-language children with severe-to-profound hearing loss. Design This research was administered as a cross-sectional study. The sample size was 60 Persian 5–7 year old children. The assessment tool was one of subtests of Persian version of the Test of Language Development-Primary 3. The study included two experiments: auditory-only and audiovisual presentation conditions. The test was a closed-set including 30 words which were orally presented by a speech-language pathologist. Results The scores of audiovisual word perception were significantly higher than auditory-only condition in the children with normal hearing ( P < 0.01) and cochlear implant ( P < 0.05); however, in the children with hearing aid, there was no significant difference between word perception score in auditory-only and audiovisual presentation conditions ( P > 0.05). Conclusions The audiovisual spoken word recognition can be applied as a clinical criterion to assess the children with severe to profound hearing loss in order to find whether cochlear implant or hearing aid has been efficient for them or not; i.e. if a child with hearing impairment who using CI or HA can obtain higher scores in audiovisual spoken word recognition than auditory-only condition, his/her auditory skills have appropriately developed due to effective CI or HA as one of the main factors of auditory habilitation.