Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the expressive vocabulary of children with hearing loss (HL) enrolled in early intervention (EI) ≤ 3 vs >3 months in the first 24 months and to compare with hearing controls. It was hypothesized that the number of words produced would be higher for children with HL enrolled in EI ≤ 3 vs >3 months.
Study design: This is a prospective longitudinal matched cohort study.
Result: The children with HL produced fewer words than the children with hearing. In addition, children with HL enrolled in EI ≤ 3 months had a larger expressive vocabulary percentile score compared with children with HL enrolled >3 months. Children with mild HL enrolled in EI ≤ 3 months had the greatest growth in vocabulary between 12 to 16 and 18 to 24 months.
Conclusion: Although multiple factors are associated with expressive vocabulary growth of children with HL, enrollment in EI ≤ 3 months has sustained beneficial effects on expressive vocabulary at 18 to 24 months.