Song recognition by young children with cochlear implants: Comparison between unilateral, bilateral, and bimodal users

Method: Participants included 45 children ages 3;8-7;3 (years;months): 12 with NH and 33 with CIs, including 10 with unilateral CI, 14 with bilateral CIs, and 9 bimodal users (CI-HA) with unilateral CI and contralateral hearing aid. Preschoolers were asked to identify children’s songs presented via 5 versions: (a) full (lyrics sung with piano accompaniment); (b) a cappella (only lyrics); (c) melodic (matching main melodic contour); (d) tonal (only pitch information); and (e) rhythmic (only song’s rhythm).

Purpose: To examine song identification by preschoolers with normal hearing (NH) versus preschoolers with cochlear implants (CIs).

Results: The NH group surpassed all CI groups at identifying songs via melodic and tonal versions, but no significant differences emerged between the NH group and any CI group via full, a cappella, or rhythmic versions. Among the CI groups, no significant differences emerged via melodic or rhythmic versions, but bimodal users performed significantly better than bilateral users via the tonal version. Chronological age and duration of CI use correlated significantly with identification via the rhythmic version.

Conclusion: Bimodal users showed an advantage in identifying songs in the tonal version through use of complementary information.