Abstract
Purpose The present study investigated adults with partial deafness (PD) and asked them to rate the benefits of their cochlear implant (CI), their general level of satisfaction with it, and their level of psychological distress. Of particular interest was the role of gender.MethodsThe study comprised 71 participants (41 females) with PD who had been provided with a CI. The Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ) was used to assess the benefits of their CI. Satisfaction with their CI was measured using a visual analog scale. The severity of mental distress was assessed with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28).ResultsOn various NCIQ scales, the average benefits of a CI were rated at 66%. Females gave a lower rating than males. The mental distress experienced by the group was significantly higher than in the general population. Females had more severe symptoms of anxiety and insomnia than males. There was a significant relationship between psychological distress and CI benefit, but only in females. Besides general distress, the most affected spheres were related to psychosocial functioning—“self-esteem”, “activity limitation”, and “social interaction”. Contrary to expectations, there was no relationship between mental distress and CI satisfaction.ConclusionsThe perceived benefits of a CI in subjects with PD relate mostly to the level of mental distress, although gender is an important factor. For females, their emotional state affects how beneficial their CI is perceived. Due to the higher levels of mental distress, females tend to need more psychological intervention and support.
Highlights
When users subjectively rate the effectiveness of their cochlear implants (CIs), two aspects need to be considered: the actual perceived benefits of the CI and the general level of satisfaction
The greatest benefits experienced by partial deafness (PD) CI users were in the spheres of “social interaction” (NCIQ 5),”activity limitation” (NCIQ 6), and in the physical domain, i.e., in “basic sound perception” (NCIQ 1) and were similar for both females and males
Females had higher values of GHQ-28 Total, as well as on all of its scales A, B, C, and D compared to the general population; whereas for males, it remained at the same general level
Summary
When users subjectively rate the effectiveness of their cochlear implants (CIs), two aspects need to be considered: the actual perceived benefits of the CI and the general level of satisfaction. These two factors are good indicators of the effectiveness of a CI in overcoming hearing loss [1,2,3,4,5]. Satisfaction with a CI can be understood “as Such assessments are usually made using specific tools, e.g., the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ) [2, 4, 6] or the Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life (SADL) questionnaire [3], but visual analog scales (VAS) can be used [7]. The benefits of a CI assessed using the NCIQ vary, and range from 50 to 80% [1, 4, 6, 8,9,10,11,12]
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