Abstract
Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) permits candidates to receive a cochlear implant provided they only hear sounds louder than 90 dB HL at 2 and 4 kHz. In some patients, their level of residual hearing may be sufficient to warrant the use of a hearing aid in their non-implanted ear. A survey of unilaterally implanted adults indicated that those implanted since the publication of NICE guidance were almost seven times more likely to use a hearing aid than those implanted prior to this. If contralateral hearing aid use provides additional benefits over implant use alone, it may be appropriate to consider the capacity to use residual hearing following implantation when determining candidacy.
Highlights
Cochlear implants (CIs) for adults in the UK were typically restricted to those with profound deafness, or little or no access to useful residual hearing (UKCISG 2004).They were unlikely to benefit from the use of an acoustic hearing aid (HA) in their non-implanted ear following implantation
By the early 2000s, studies were emerging that demonstrated the capacity of cochlear implantation to provide benefit in patients with greater levels of residual hearing (Cullen et al, 2004; Dowell et al, 2004)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance places no restriction on low frequency hearing other than its capacity to support speech perception
Summary
Cochlear implants (CIs) for adults in the UK were typically restricted to those with profound deafness, or little or no access to useful residual hearing (UKCISG 2004). They were unlikely to benefit from the use of an acoustic hearing aid (HA) in their non-implanted ear following implantation. NICE guidance places no restriction on low frequency hearing other than its capacity to support speech perception. CI recipients in the UK may still have access to potentially useful and aidable low frequency hearing despite the restriction that
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
