Late Receipt of a Second Cochlear Implant: Better Late than Never?

doi:10.46940/jecor.03.1008

Abstract

The present study explored the incremental benefits of late receipt of a second cochlear implant (CI) by examining various aspects of educational, cognitive and social-emotional functioning among college-age CI users. Secondary analyses were conducted on data from seven studies that had compared deaf students who were active CI users, deaf students who had never used CIs and hearing students; information concerning unilateral or bilateral CI use had been collected but was not analysed previously. The seven studies provided for comparisons on four dozen dimensions including executive function, world knowledge, visual-spatial ability, academic achievement and quality of life. Ages of first/only cochlear implantation did not differ significantly in any of the comparisons, nor did the groups differ significantly on most of the outcome measures across cognitive and social-emotional domains. The findings consistently indicated that while cognitive and social-emotional differences might be apparent between samples of unilateral and bilateral CI users during earlier childhood, they were not evident in this group of CI users who had reached college-age. Limitations of this study related to the nature of the participant samples indicate the need for further research on long-term benefits of bilateral implantation.

Highlights

With the increasing prevalence of cochlear implant (CI) use and implantation during infancy, implanting both ears has become more common
The increasing prevalence of CI use has been associated with an increasing volume of research and related literature concerning variables that are predictive of language, cognitive and social-emotional outcomes following cochlear implantation, evidence with regard to longterm outcomes remains limited
Data evaluated in the present study were drawn directly from seven studies that were conducted as part of a research program investigating relations among language, cognition and social-emotional functioning among CI users and deaf nonusers as compared to each other and to hearing peers

Summary

Introduction

With the increasing prevalence of cochlear implant (CI) use and implantation during infancy, implanting both ears has become more common. In countries such as Canada and New Zealand, for example, bilateral implantation has become standard practice for children with symmetrical severe to profound hearing losses [1]. This study addresses one aspect of long-term CI use, the relative impact of late receipt of a second CI. It compared functioning in several cognitive and social-emotional domains in the current cohort of college students who received either unilateral or bilateral CIs as children or adolescents.

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Results

Conclusion