Nordic results of cochlear implantation in adults: speech perception and patient reported outcomes.

BACKGROUND

Although cochlear implantation (CI) is widely performed in postlingually hearing-impaired adults in the Nordic countries, the literature on hearing outcomes remains scarce. Aims/objectives: To evaluate and correlate hearing outcomes after implantation.

METHODS

Prospective evaluation of 40 adult first-implantation recipients pre- and post-implantation with Dantale, the Danish Hearing in Noise Test (HINT), the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ) and the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12).

RESULTS

Dantalemean increased from 50% (95% CI [41.7,58.4])) to 73% (95% CI [66.6,80.1]) and 19% (95% CI [13.3,25.1]) to 40%(95% CI [32.1,46.7]) (quiet/noise). HINTwords increased from 71% (95% CI [58.8,83.8]) to 83% (95% CI [69.8,95.4]) and 59% (95% CI [46.2,70.6]) to 73% (95% CI [63.3,82.8]) (quiet/noise). NCIQmean changed from 277 (95% CI [252.4,301.6]) to 396 (95% CI [366.7,424.7]) and SSQ12mean from 27 (95% CI [21.3,31.8]) to 48 (95% CI [39.4,55.6]). Correlations coefficients were r s = 0.39-0.74 (p < .01) between Dantale/HINT, rs = 0.78 (p < .0001) between NCIQ/SSQ12, r s = 0.41-0.59 (p < .01) between NCIQ/SSQ12 and Dantale and r s = 0.24-0.41 (ns) between NCIQ/SSQ12 and HINT.

CONCLUSION

The study documents a high auditory performance and patient-perceived improvement after implantation and advocate broader awareness of implantation as treatment option in the growing population of severe-to-profound hearing-impaired adults. Correlations between hearing measures may influence future evaluation practices.