Cochlear implantation in adults with unilateral deafness: A review of the assessment/evaluation protocols.

OBJECTIVES

Cochlear implantation is becoming widely used outside the tertiary research centers for treatment of unilateral deafness (UD). No consensus exists, however, on the most suitable assessment/evaluation protocols for this group of adult patients. This paper aims to review the assessment and evaluation protocols used by various research groups and to propose a protocol for the use in the clinical setting.

METHODS

The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched with the keywords 'cochlear', 'implant', 'single-sided', 'deafness', 'adults', 'unilateral', and 'deafness'. The words were either used individually, combined in pairs, or in groups of 5. All articles reporting on prospective studies, retrospective studies, or case studies were included.

RESULTS

Sixteen published studies met the inclusion criteria. Measures of hearing performance, tinnitus, subjective quality of hearing, and quality of life varied greatly among studies.

DISCUSSION: Adaptive speech in noise testing, localization, tinnitus measurement questionnaires, and self-rated hearing improvement are widely used among the research groups. These tools in conjunction assess and evaluate the main issues associated with UD.

CONCLUSION

The test battery most commonly used to assess and evaluate adult cochlea implant users with UD consists of (a) a subjective self-rating of hearing performance, (b) localization testing, and