Cochlear Implants in Adults: Effects of Age and Duration of Deafness on Speech Recognition.

OBJECTIVE

Unexplained outcome variability exists among adults with cochlear implants (CIs). Two significant predictors are age and duration of deafness, with older patients and those with longer durations of deafness generally demonstrating poorer speech recognition. However, these factors are often highly correlated. Thus, it is unclear whether poorer outcomes should be attributed primarily to age-related declines or to the experience of auditory deprivation. Our aim was to examine the effects of aging and duration of hearing loss on outcomes for postlingually deaf adults with CIs.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective review of adults who received CIs from 1983 to 2014.

SETTING

Tertiary adult CI program.

PATIENTS

Sixty-four adult patients with postlingual hearing loss beginning after age 12 years, full electrode insertion, normal cochlear anatomy, and availability of postoperative outcome measures.

INTERVENTION

Cochlear implantation with 12 months or greater of device use.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Postoperative pure-tone averages (0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kHz) and recognition of words in sentences (Hearing in Noise Test and AzBio).

RESULTS

Age at postoperative testing had a negative partial correlation with AzBio scores, when controlling for duration of deafness, whereas duration of deafness had a positive partial correlation with AzBio scores, when controlling for age. No other effects were identified.

CONCLUSION

Older age at testing was associated with poorer recognition of words in difficult sentences, suggesting that cognitive aging may negatively impact CI outcomes. Further studies are needed to examine how a long duration of auditory deprivation affects CI outcomes.