The effect of cochlear implant using period on voice parameters

Purpose: It is aimed to determine the effects and improvement properties of the acoustic information on the acoustic parameters of the voice in children with the use of cochlear implant duration. Materials and method: A total of 75 individuals, 25 of whom were hearing normally and 50 were prelingual cochlear implants users, participated in our study. Patients using cochlear implants were divided into two groups according to the duration of device usage. Children using implants for 5 years as Group I, children using implants for 10 years as Group II. Individuals with normal hearing were evaluated as the control group. All participants were asked to pronounce the vowels /a/, /u/ and /i/ for 3 seconds. Acoustic analysis were made by recording them in Audacity and PRAAT programs. Habitual fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, Harmonic/Noice ratio (HNR) and Formant Frequencies values were recorded and compared. Results: It was observed that the mean age was different in all groups (p<0.001). Gender distributions were found to be homogeneous and similar (p=0.360). The use of unilateral & bilateral cochlear implants in the two groups were statistically significant (p<0.001). In all groups, /a/, /u/ and /i/ F0 values were found to be statistically significant when compared between groups (p<0.05). /a/ and /i/ phonemes Jitter, Shimmer and HNR parameters were found to be statistically similar (p>0.05). Shimmer and HNR parameters were found to be statistically significant in the /u/ phoneme (p<0.05). Whereas Shimmer and HNR parameters were found to be statistically significant in the /u/ phoneme (p<0.05). In the formant analysis, /a/ F1, /u/ F1 and /u/ F2 were found to be statistically significant in the groups (p<0.05). The remaining fromant analysis were similar (p>0.05). When the unilateral, bilateral & control groups were compared, it was observed that /a/ F0, /i/ F0, /u/ F1 & /u/ F2 were statistically significant between the groups (p<0.05). In all phonemes Jitter, Shimmer, HNR, /u/ F0, /a/ and /i/ F1 & F2 were found to be statistically similar (p>0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that the use of bilateral cochlear implants at an early age in the pediatric group improved the sound quality and the information obtained from acoustic analysis could make positive contributions to the management of education and therapy processes. There is a need for studies on this subject in more standardized patient groups. Keywords: Hearing loss, Cochlear Implant, Voice acoustic analysis, Formants