[Outcomes of music perception assessment and appreciation questionnaire in postlingually-deafened cochlear implant users with Chinese cultural background].

Objective

To evaluate the music perception ability and appraisal status of cochlear implant adult users, then to compare those with normal-hearing subjects.

Methods

The Iowa Musical Background and Appreciation Questionnaire (IMBAQ) was conducted to evaluate 20 cases of post-lingual deafness cochlear implant recipients (9 males, 11 females) aged 12-61(mean=28.8 yrs). Those music perception abilities were tested via Music Perceptional Evaluation Platform. Two kinds of tone(C#3, C#5)were carried out in the music perception test, including the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) Test, the Pitch-Direction Discrimination (PDD) Test and the Melody Contour Identification (MCI) Test. Meanwhile, the timbre identification tests were received by both normal hearing and cochlear implant patients.

Results

The total outcomes of cochlear implant recipients were inferior to the normal hearing subjects (P<0.05). Both of the thresholds of JND (P=0.001) and PDD (P<0.001) had a significant difference, while comparing the two frequency values (C#3 and C#5) in cochlear implant adult users. IMBAQ results indicated the lower post-implantation music appreciation and engagement compared to pre-deafness levels. The longer duration of formal music training was positively correlated with better music perception performance in CI recipients.

Conclusions

There still has a big gap between the cochlear implant group and normal hearing group in the music perception test. And different frequency value causes effect on the result of cochlear implant patient group.