Tracking Listening Skill Development in Infants and Children with Hearing Loss: A Normative Dataset for the Functional Listening Index—Paediatric (FLI-P®)

Abstract

Background: Longitudinal studies highlight the importance of early intervention and timely device fitting for language development in children with congenital or early acquired hearing loss. Due to the variability in hearing loss, comorbidities, family circumstances, and service access, individualised monitoring of listening development is essential to inform decision-making. The Functional Listening Index—Paediatric (FLI-P), a 64-item hierarchical checklist of listening skills, has been validated for children with hearing loss aged 0–6 years. This study aimed to develop benchmarks for the FLI-P in typically hearing children, allowing for comparison with individual children with hearing loss. Methods: FLI-P scores were obtained from parents/caregivers of 561 typically hearing children aged 0–72 months. Each child’s FLI-P score was categorised into a 6-month age block, with a minimum of 36 data points per block. Quantile regression was employed to establish percentiles of FLI-P scores by age. Results: FLI-P scores were successfully recorded for all 561 children. Regression analysis determined that the 16th and 84th percentiles of FLI-P scores corresponded to approximately ±1 standard deviation from the median score for each age group. A graphical representation of these percentile trajectories was created to facilitate comparison between children with hearing loss and the normative data. Conclusion: A normative dataset of FLI-P scores from typically hearing children has been established, allowing for comparisons with the scores and developmental trajectories of individual children with hearing loss. The study demonstrates how FLI-P can guide early intervention decisions and effectively monitor progress.