Investigating the Effect of Persian Phonemic Synthesis Program in Cochlear Implant Users with Phoneme Processing Dificulities

Abstract

Background and Aim: Children with severe to profound sensory-neural hearing loss who use a hearing aid or a Cochlear Implant (CI) are likely to have Decoding (DEC) problems. Various studies recommend auditory processing training to improve auditory processing difficulties in CI users. The aim of the present study was to evaluate phoneme processing difficulties in CI users and to investigate the efficacy of the Persian version of the Phonemic Synthesis Program (P-PSP) in improving phonological abilities in this population. Methods: A total of 28 prelingually hearing-impaired children aged 8–12 who underwent unilateral (right ear) cochlear implantation were included in this study. They were divided into experimental and control groups. The P-PSP was implemented on the experimental group, and the results were analyzed over three phases: baseline, intervention, and follow- up. Results: The present study’s results indicate that P-PSP training is suitable for CI children, particularly for the DEC subcategory. Moreover, the Persian Phonemic Synthesis Test (P-PST) results significantly improved after the intervention phase compared to the baseline evaluations (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the intervention and follow-up phases’ results (p>0.05), indicating no recurrence of auditory processing difficulties after discontinuing training. Conclusion: Based on the study’s findings, the Persian version of PSP enhances phonological processing abilities in CI users. Therefore, the use of auditory phonological training in post- implantation rehabilitation programs appears to be highly important.   Keywords: Auditory processing; decoding disorder; cochlear implant; auditory training