Children then, adults now: long-term outcomes—performance at 15, 20, and 25 years of cochlear implant use

Abstract

MotivationSevere to profound sensorineural hearing loss interferes with a child's development at the cognitive, linguistic, academic, and social levels. Since the beginning of the pediatric auditory rehabilitation program through cochlear implantation in the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Service of the Coimbra Hospital and University Center (CHUC), Portugal, its mentors defended the early diagnosis of hearing loss followed by timely intervention, and this was considered the starting point to optimize (re)habilitation through this method. Three decades or so later, recently we conducted this study to evaluate the performance of patients implanted in the initial phase of the cochlear implantation program.ObjectivesThe study aimed to evaluate the performance of individuals with severe to profound congenital hearing loss who underwent pediatric cochlear implantation and have used the cochlear implant for at least 25 years, to analyze the beneficial effect of early intervention in improving performance results.MethodsThe study sample is composed of 31 individuals with severe to profound congenital hearing loss and no other comorbidities, divided into two groups (Group 1: age at implantation was under 3 years; Group 2: age at implantation was over 3 years). All 31 subjects were evaluated at 15, 20, and 25 years of cochlear implant (CI) use with a comprehensive set of tests. In addition, data were collected regarding the academic level of each participant. The results of both groups were compared to find out if there is an effect of age at implantation on auditory performance, and if there is an improvement in the performance with CI over time (15, 20, and 25 years of use).ResultsThe results show that there is a positive effect, with statistical significance, of early implantation on auditory performance, and telephone use. In both groups, there is an increase in performance over time, but it tends to stabilize after 20 years of CI use.Discussion and conclusionThe results obtained in this work support the importance of early intervention in patients with severe to profound hearing loss who are cochlear implant users and show that CI is an effective and reliable method in the treatment of these patients, contributing to their improved socio-educational integration, and that the benefits last over time.

Evaluation of the Impact of Cochlear Implantation on Patients’ Working Life: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Cochlear implants received in childhood and adulthood may show differences in performance as expected. Findings from various studies have shown that early implantation has more positive effects on auditory performance [ 19 , 20 ]. In our study, those receiving their implants in childhood reported more positive work performance compared to their counterparts implanted in adulthood.…”

Objective and Subjective Assessment of Music Perception and Musical Experiences in Young Cochlear Implant Users

“…The criteria for inclusion in the CI group were individuals with prelingual deafness who underwent cochlear implantation before the age of 3 years [ 13 ] and who were aged between 6 and 16 years [ 14 ] at the time of the evaluation. All participants were required to be unilaterally or bilaterally implanted with a MED-EL CI (MED-EL GmbH, Innsbruck, Austria), with at least 10 active electrodes, at least one year of stable fitting, and with good speech performance (defined as ≥65% of correctly identified disyllables in silence).…”