TITLE:
The Impact of Age on Cochlear Implant Performance
AUTHORS:
Brian Schwab, Michele Gandolfi, Erica Lai, Erin Reilly, Lorie Singer, Ana H. Kim
KEYWORDS:
Cochlear Implantation, Age, Duration of Deafness
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery,
Vol.4 No.5,
August
31,
2015
ABSTRACT: Objective: Cochlear implantation is the emerging treatment of choice for severe and profound sensorineural hearing loss, yet there are conflicting data on outcomes in adults. There is significant variability in the literature concerning the exact effect of age on cochlear implant outcomes. We sought to evaluate the outcomes of cochlear implant performance stratified by age. Study Design: Retrospective review. Methods: Audiologic preoperative and postoperative evaluation consisted of word recognition scores (Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant). Complications were retrospectively collected after each cochlear implantation. A sub-analysis was performed comparing patients implanted at a younger (21 - 64 years) and older (65 and above) age. Results: A total of 240 patients were evaluated. Patients experienced a significant improvement in audiologic performance as seen with word recognition scores (p