Cerebral palsy: An overview and the role of a paediatric neurologist in the evaluation of children with complex needs for cochlear implant

Abstract

Provision of cochlear implants (CIs) for those within the criteria for implantation remains lower in the United States than in some other developed nations. When adults and children are grouped together, the rate of utilization/provision remains low at around 6%. For children, the provision rate is about 50% of those who could benefit from an implant, compared with figures of about 90% for the Flanders part of Belgium, the United Kingdom and other European countries. The probable reasons for this underprovision include: low awareness of the benefits of CIs among the population; low awareness among health-care professionals; the lack of specific referral pathways; some political issues relating to the Deaf Community; and financial issues related to health provision. Such financial issues result in situations which either fail to provide for access to implants or provide too low a level of the necessary funding, especially for low-income individuals covered by public health-care programs such as Medicaid. These issues might be mitigated by adoption and publication of standards for best clinical practices for CI provision, availability of current cost-effectiveness data, and the existence of an organization dedicated to cochlear implantation. Such an organization, the American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACI Alliance), was recently organized and is described in the paper by Niparko et al. in this Supplement.

The Role of Telemedicine in Auditory Rehabilitation

“…10 Approximately 1.2 millions patients with severe hearing loss are likely candidates for CI with in the US; however, the utilization rate of cochlear implants is only 5%. 13 Awareness of cochlear implantation and its benefits is low among the general population and among health-care professionals. 14,15 There is a significant shortage of audiologists who remain in the field after completion of training, which is projected to affect access to hearing healthcare in future.…”

The impact of cochlear implantation on cognition in older adults: a systematic review of clinical evidence

“…Only 5-10% of adult cochlear implant candidates in the US have received cochlear implants, despite the fact that Medicare and many insurance carriers currently pay for the procedure [20,21]. Approximately 50,000 cochlear implant surgeries are currently performed per year worldwide based on manufacturer revenue estimates, and about 20–25,000 are used in adults.…”

Comparison of Complications of the Suprameatal Approach and Mastoidectomy with Posterior Tympanotomy Approach in Cochlear Implantation: A Meta-Analysis

“…It is salutary that in Japan, the uptake rate of cochlear implants is 1% of the potentially suitable candidates of all ages [1]. The total number of CI recipients in the USA in 2009 was about 70,000 adults and children, yielding a utilization rate of 5.6% among the candidate population [2]. Surprisingly, since 1995, more than 10,000 subjects have received CIs in China, which is an increase by 25% of the average annual rate [3].…”