Long-Term Educational and Occupational Status of Prelingually Deaf Children Who Have Received a Cochlear Implant.

Objective: To investigate the long-term educational and occupational status of prelingually bilateral deaf children who received a cochlear implant (CI) before the age of 7, and to identify factors that influence these outcomes.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Single tertiary care center.

Methods: Seventy-one children who underwent CI surgery from 2000 to 2007 were included. The latest education and occupation status and word recognition score (WRS) were analyzed.

Results: The mean age at the time of surgery and the current age was 3.9 and 22.4 years. The age at CI showed a negative correlation with WRS. All subjects had graduated from high school or obtained an equivalent educational qualification. General high school graduates showed a higher WRS than those who attended a special education high school. The college entrance rate of CI patients (74.6% %) was comparable to that of the general population (72.5%). Subjects who went to college had a significantly better WRS than those who did not (51.4% vs 19.3%). Excluding 30 subjects currently enrolled in college, 26 (62%) of the remaining 41 were currently employed and engaged in various vocational activities, of which most (21 out of 26, 81%) were employed through vocational training institutes, or via special recruitment policy for the disabled.

Conclusion: The long-term use of CI in prelingually deaf children enables not only speech perception but also produces comparable levels of education and employment to those of the general population. A good WRS and supportive policy were related to these successful outcomes.