Cochlear Implantation in the Active Duty Military Population: A Survey Assessing Military Readiness and Satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE

Evaluate the impact of cochlear implantation (CI) on retention for United States active duty (AD) service members.

STUDY

DESIGN

Retrospective observational study.

SETTING

Tertiary military CI centers.

PATIENTS: AD service members who underwent CI and completed a telephonic survey.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The ability for military personnel to maintain AD status following CI as determined by the nonvolitional hearing-related AD separation rate and whether subjects would recommend CI to other qualified candidates.

RESULTS

Twenty AD service members who underwent CI between 2004 and 2020 completed a telephonic survey. Fifteen (75%) were single-sided deafness (SSD) and five were traditional CI candidates. The mean age was 40.3 years (range 27.5-64.3), 19 (95%) were male, and 12 (80%) were Caucasian. Ten (50%) were officers and 14 (70%) were noncombat support personnel. Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss was the most common cause of hearing loss (8, 40%) followed by occupational noise exposure (4, 20%). Sixteen (80%) maintained AD status yielding 46.15 person-years of AD service following CI. For SSD, 14 (93%) maintained AD status yielding 40.54 person-years of AD service. The nonvolitional hearing-related patient separation rate for CI recipients with bilateral hearing loss was 35.65 cases per 100 AD person-years and 0 cases per 100 person-years for SSD candidates. Nineteen (95%) stated they would recommend CI to other AD CI candidates.

CONCLUSIONS

The vast majority of AD CI recipients, and particularly those with SSD, are able to remain on AD after surgery and report a high degree of satisfaction with their implant.