A meta-analysis of language abilities and executive function for children with cochlear implants

The purpose of this study was to identify the differences in language ability and executive functions of children with cochlear implants (CI) and their peer normal hearing (NH) children, and to find out whether the auditory history (duration of CI use, age at implantation) of CI group plays a role as a moderator in controlling the effect size of the differences of the CI and NH groups. A total of 77 articles were searched, 11 studies which met the inclusive and exclusive criteria were selected from three electronic databases (Academic Search Complete, PsycInfo, PubMed). As a result, significant differences were identified in language ability and the five executive function subtypes (working memory, inhibition, shifting, emotion control, and sustained sequential processing) between two groups. But, the hearing history of CI group (duration of CI use, age at implantation) did not appear as a significant moderator. In conclusion, CI children's language ability and executive function should be precisely monitored and regularly evaluated. In addition, we discussed the possibility that some executive function abilities (plan/organize, attention, and visuo-spatial organization) will remain in CI group. For the follow-up study, we need to identify various factors that support the CI children.