Abstract
This retrospective study aimed to investigate the range of hearing levels in a cochlear implant (CI) elderly population receiving electric-acoustic-stimulation (EAS) or electric-stimulation (ES) alone. The investigation evaluates the degree of hearing preservation (HP) and the speech comprehension resulting from EAS or ES-only to identify audiometric factors that predict adequate EAS and ES use. We analyzed the pure tone audiometry and speech perception in quiet and noise preoperatively and 12-months after activation of 89 elderly adults (age of 65 years old or older), yielding in total 97 CIs. Thirty-two (33.1%) patients were potential EAS candidates preoperatively, of which 18 patients used EAS at the time of first fitting and the other 14 patients continued to use their residual hearing for EAS at 12-months. Post-treatment, patients with EAS system and ES-only users’ with longer electrodes showed better results in monosyllable word scores in quiet than ES-only users with shorter electrodes. A similar trend was revealed for the speech recognition in noise. Patients with an EAS system benefit from maintaining their natural residual hearing. Nevertheless, strict preoperative patient selection is warranted particularly in elderly patients, in whom the hearing thresholds for EAS indication differ slightly from that in younger adults.
Highlights
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among older adults
About one-third of the population in the United States between 65 and 75 years is affected by some degree of SNHL, and the prevalence is estimated to affect more than 50% in the age group 75 years and older [1,2,3]
The preservation of low frequency residual hearing is feasible in elderly cochlear implant (CI) recipients
Summary
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among older adults. About one-third of the population in the United States between 65 and 75 years is affected by some degree of SNHL, and the prevalence is estimated to affect more than 50% in the age group 75 years and older [1,2,3]. In Germany more than 30% of the population aged between 60 and 69 years is diagnosed with hearing loss. This prevalence increases to approximately 40% and 55% in individuals between 70–79 years and over 80 years, respectively [4,5]. As the world’s population progressively grows older, the prevalence of hearing impairment will increase as well [2]. Previous studies have demonstrated that SNHL is associated with impairments in cognitive function and reduced quality of life [7,8]
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