Correlations between speech comprehension and quality of life in adults with early childhood cochlea implantation.

PURPOSE: This study examines long-term auditory, psychological, social and educational outcomes in adults who received a cochlear implant (CI) in early childhood. It aims to identify predictors of quality of life (QoL) in adulthood, with particular emphasis on the impact of prolonged CI use.

METHODS

Thirty-one adults (mean age 25 ± 4.6 years) who had received a unilateral or bilateral CI before the age of 10 (mean implantation age 3.37 ± 2.31 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. Auditory performance was evaluated using pure-tone audiometry (PTA-4), Freiburg speech test (ESV 65 dB SPL, mEV), and the Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA) in background noise. Psychological assessment included disease-specific and general QoL (NCIQ, WHOQoL-Bref), depression (DESC-I), resilience (RS-13), self-esteem (MSWS), and personality traits (NEO-FFI-30).

RESULTS

The average period of CI use was 21.6 ± 3.6 years. Average PTA-4 was 25.79 dB, and mean mEV was 73.33%. Moderate correlations were observed between NCIQ and PTA-4 (r≈-0.4), mEV (r≈0.38), and OLSA (r≈-0.37), in addition between DESC and ESV 65 dB/mEV (r=-0.43/-0.49). Participants with better speech comprehension (ESV 65 dB > 50%; n=23) achieved better scores in NCIQ (g=0,54 - 0,92), DESC (g=-0.8) and RS-13 (g=0,48).

CONCLUSION

This study provides unique long-term data on adults implanted in early childhood, combining over two decades of CI use with evaluation of auditory and psychological outcomes. The findings show that prolonged CI use is associated with sustained auditory performance and improved QoL, highlighting the central role of speech comprehension for psychological well-being and offering perspectives for future research.