Evaluation of attention, memory and language skills in children using auditory brainstem ımplant and cochlear ımplant

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate attention, memory and language skills in children with auditory brainstem and cochlear implants. For this purpose, 20 children with auditory brainstem implants and 20 children with cochlear implants between the ages of 6 and 9 participated in the study. Turkish School Age Language Development Test was used to assess language skills. The attention and memory skills were evaluated by STROOP Test, Visual-aural Digit Span Test, and Marking Test. The Auditory Behavior in Everyday Life and the Auditory Performance Scale for Children were used to evaluate the functional outcomes of hearing skills in daily life. The findings were made using SPSS v.25 software, and the statistical significance level was determined as 0.05. Accordingly, a statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in all sub-scores of the language test and in listening, organizing, speaking, grammar, semantics, and verbal language skills (p < 0.05). The statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in completion times of STROOP test 1, 2 and 5 (p < 0.05). The statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in auditory-verbal, visual-verbal, auditory-written, verbal response, inter-sensory fusion and general score in the memory tasks (p < 0.05). The statistically significant differences were found in test completion times in all subsections of the marking test (p < 0.05). The statistically significant correlations were found between language, attention, memory scores and auditory performance scale scores. The differences encountered in the follow-up process in children with auditory implants in the literature are consistent with the findings of this study. It is recommended that the development of attention and memory skills should be considered in follow-up and intervention approaches in these children.