Evaluation of decision criteria of CI candidates for implant system selection

Cochlear implants (CIs) are a common therapy for severe to profound hearing loss. In the absence of additional medical requirements, patients may choose deliberately between different implant systems. Therefore, a detailed counselling is required. The aim of the study is the evaluation of decision criteria of patients that are rated as relevant during the selection of the CI device. The evaluation was carried out via questionnaires at different time points: before implantation, after completion of the first fitting and after 6 months CI experience. They included characteristics of the implant, sound processor, accessories and different hearing program parameters. The relevance of the particular aspects for choosing an implant system was assessed using Likert scaling with four levels (very important to unimportant). The results showed that the reliability of the implant was rated as the most important at all times of examination (152-158 out of 164 points). The wearing comfort of the sound processor (150-154) and the availability of noise reduction (145-147) were also assessed as very relevant. Preoperative, the length of the electrode array (70) was rated as least relevant, postoperative the availability of swimming protection (79) was least important. The shape of the electrode was found to be of little relevance to CI system selection at all times of examination (74-84). Some parameters were rated more important postoperatively than preoperatively without CI experience. These included directional microphone technology (95/125) and setting options via the remote control (86/123). The findings of the study enable the identification of patient-relevant counselling content, so that the counselling process can be optimized considering individual requirements.

Publication History

Article published online:
12 May 2023