The Influence of Activities and Functional Social Support on Adult Cochlear Implant Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to assess whether patient participation in specific activities and perceived social support correlate with speech perception following cochlear implantation.

SETTING

Tertiary referral hospital.

METHODS

Adult cochlear implantation patients implanted in their poorer hearing ear between January 2019 and December 2020 completed the Functional Social Support Questionnaire (FSSQ) and a modified version of the Victoria Lifestyle Study-Activities Lifestyle Questionnaire (VLS-ALQ). Demographics, FSSQ score, and individual activities were correlated with implanted ear and binaural AzBio scores.

RESULTS

Twenty-three patients completed the survey and had at least 6 months of follow-up with appropriate speech perception testing. The average age at survey completion was 71.7 (SD, 9.1). Average pure-tone average in the contralateral ear was 70.1 (SD: 20) dB. The majority (N = 21, 91.3%) wore a hearing aid in the contralateral ear following cochlear implantation. Mean AzBioQuiet score improvement was 60.6% (range: 20%-99%) in the implanted ear and 42.6% (range: -2% to 67%) binaurally. Work-related social support correlated positively with improvement in the implanted ear (Pearson's R = 0.473; 95% CI, 0.075-0.741; P = 0.023). Improvement in the implanted ear correlated positively with creative writing (R = 0.542; 95% CI, 0.167-0.780; P = 0.008), attending films (R = 0.448; 95% CI, 0.044-0.726; P = 0.032), going out with friends (R = 0.423; 95% CI, 0.013-0.711; P = 0.044) listening to audiobooks (R = 0.433; 95% CI, 0.025-0.717; P = 0.039), and public speaking (R = 0.468; 95% CI, 0.069-0.738; P = 0.024). Gains in binaural performance correlated positively with watching TV news (R = 0.819; 95% CI, 0.509-0.941; P < 0.001) and negatively with eating at restaurants (R = -0.532; 95% CI, -0.829 to -0.002; P = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Activities that provide intellectual stimulation and engage auditory faculties correlate with greater speech perception testing improvements in adult cochlear implantation patients.