Objective Vocal Quality in Children Using Cochlear Implants: A Multiparameter Approach

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the objective vocal quality in 36 prelingually deaf children using cochlear implant (CI) with a mean age of 9 years. An additional purpose was to compare the objective vocal quality of these 36 CI users with 25 age-matched children with prelingual severe hearing loss using conventional hearing aids (HAs) and 25 normal hearing (NH) children. Study Design The design for this cross-sectional study was a multigroup posttest-only design. Methods The objective vocal quality was measured by means of the dysphonia severity index (DSI). Moreover, perceptual voice assessment using the GRBASI scale was performed. Results