Table 1. Characteristics of all participants.
| Total sample (N = 252) | HI sample (n = 123) | |||
| Controls | HI | CI | Hearing aid | |
| Number of children – n | 129 | 123 | 53 | 70 |
| Age mean in years (SD) | 11.6 (1.3) | 12.0 (1.8) | 11.9 (2.1) | 12.0 (1.7) |
| Gender - n (%) | ||||
| Male | 58 (45%) | 60 (49%) | 24 (45%) | 36 (51%) |
| Female | 71 (55%) | 63 (51%) | 29 (55%) | 34 (49%) |
| Socioeconomic status mean (SD)a | 12.1 (2.4) | 11.5 (2.3) | 11.7 (2.3) | 11.3 (2.4) |
| Nonverbal IQ | ||||
| IQ norm score Picture arrangement (SD) | 10.6 (3.4) | 10.2 (3.5) | 9.9 (3.5) | 10.4 (3.5) |
| IQ norm score Block design (SD) | 10.6 (3.0) | 10.4 (3.1) | 10.3 (2.8) | 10.5 (3.4) |
| Spoken language skillsb | ||||
| Sentence comprehension (SD) | 7.1 (2.3) | 6.6 (3.1) | 6.6 (3.1) | 6.7 (3.1) |
| Story comprehension (SD) | 7.0 (2.5) | 6.3 (2.8) | 5.6 (3.0) | 6.8 (2.6) |
| Sign language skillsc | ||||
| Sentence comprehension (SD) | - | 2.3 (0.9) | 2.1 (1.0) | 2.3 (1.0) |
| Story comprehension (SD) | - | 2.6 (0.7) | 2.8 (0.8) | 2.5 (0.7) |
| Children's Communication Checklistd | ||||
| General Communication Composite (SD) | 73.9 (18.2) | 91.3 (18.2)1 | 91.9 (18.4) | 90.8 (18.2) |
| Pragmatic Composite (SD) | 36.2 (9.1) | 46.6 (8.7)1 | 47.3 (9.1) | 46.1 (8.5) |
| Audiological variables | ||||
| Degree of hearing loss - n (%)e | ||||
| Moderate (40–60 dB) | - | 29 (24%) | 0 (0%) | 29 (41%)1 |
| Severe (61–90 dB) | - | 25 (20%) | 1 (2%) | 24 (34%)1 |
| Profound (>90 dB) | - | 61 (50%) | 50 (94%) | 11 (16%)1 |
| Unknown | - | 8 (6%) | 2 (4%) | 6 (9%) |
| Preferred mode of communication - n (%) | ||||
| Oral language only | - | 88 (71%) | 36 (68%) | 52 (74%) |
| Sign-supported language | - | 33 (27%) | 17 (32%) | 16 (23%) |
| Sign language only | - | 2 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (3%) |
| Type of education – n (%) | ||||
| Regular education | - | 74 (60%) | 32 (60%) | 42 (60%) |
| Special education | - | 49 (40%) | 21 (40%) | 28 (40%) |
| Mean age at onset in years (SD) | - | 1.6 (1.3) | 1.2 (0.9) | 1.9 (1.5)2 |
| Age at onset of hearing loss - n (%) | ||||
| Prelingual (<3 yrs) | - | 104 (85%) | 49 (93%) | 55 (79%)3 |
| Perilingual (3–5 yrs) | - | 12 (10%) | 2 (4%) | 10 (14%)3 |
| Unknown | - | 7 (6%) | 2 (4%) | 5 (7%) |
| Mean age at 1st hearing aid in years (SD) | - | 2.1 (1.4) | 1.5 (0.9) | 2.6 (1.5)1 |
a
Socioeconomic status score was measured by parental education, job, and net income. (Unfortunately, due to privacy reasons, almost half of the parents did not fill out the question concerning the net income, so these were not taken into account.)
b
Spoken language skills were derived from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals; see Materials section for more information.
c
Sign language skills were derived from the Assessment Instrument for Sign Language of the Netherlands; see Materials section for more information.
d
Higher scores indicate more (social) language problems. More than 70% of the parents responded.
e
Degree of hearing loss was calculated by averaging unaided hearing thresholds at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hertz.
1
p<.001;
2
p<.01;
3
p<.05.