**4.7 Other factors**

Cochlear implant and speech characteristics such as the number of active electrodes in the implant array, larger dynamic ranges in speech processor maps, greater growth of loudness and length of time using the latest speech processing strategies have been found to significantly influence speech production and language outcomes in children implanted by age 5 years (Connor et al., 2000; Moog & Geers, 2003; Peng et al., 2004; Tobey et al., 2003). The number of surviving nerves has also been postulated to contribute to outcomes (Pyman et al., 2000).
