Cochlear Implant Adult Speech Perception Outcomes: Seniors Have Similar Good Outcomes

ObjectiveThe primary aim was to analyze the speech perception outcomes of patients with cochlear implants 65 years and older, compared with those younger than 65 years. The secondary aim was to analyze if preoperative hearing levels, severe compared with profound, had an effect on speech perception outcomes in senior citizens.Study DesignRetrospective case review of 785 patients, between 2009 and 2016.SettingA large cochlear implant program.PatientsCochlear implant adult recipients younger than 65 years and 65 years and older at the time of surgery.Intervention(s)Therapeutic-cochlear implant.Main Outcome Measure(s)Speech perception outcomes, using City University of New York (CUNY) sentences and Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) words. Outcomes were measured preoperatively and postoperatively at 3, 6and 12 months for cohorts younger than 65 years and 65 years and older.ResultsAdult recipients younger than 65 years compared with those 65 years and older had comparable outcomes for CUNY sentence scores outcomes (p = 0.11) and CNC word scores (p = 0.69). The preoperative four-frequency average severe hearing loss (HL) cohort was significantly better compared with the profound HL cohort, for both the CUNY sentence scores (p < 0.001) and CNC word scores (p < 0.0001). The four-frequency average severe HL cohort had better outcomes irrespective of age.ConclusionsSenior citizens have similarly good speech perception outcomes as adults younger than 65 years. Those with preoperative severe HL have better outcomes than profound loss. These finds are reassuring and can be used when counseling older cochlear implant candidates.