Subject acceptance of implanted auditory prosthesis.

Each of the 13 subjects was interviewed, in a structured context, to determine their estimate of the value of the prosthesis to their daily life. The subjects who used their prostheses eight or more hours a day reported it to be more valuable in their daily living than did those who used it less than eight hours a day. The fulltime users reported that the prosthesis is most helpful to them as an adjunct to lipreading. All of them thought the prosthesis valuable in terms of "hearing" environmental sounds. While all of them reported noisy environments to be bothersome, the fulltime users did not turn off their stimulators in noise. Only two subjects, both infrequent users of their prostheses, reported that they would not undergo implant surgery again.