Long-term effects of cochlear implantation on hearing function, quality of life, individual tinnitus burden and psychiatric comorbidities

Introduction The present prospective, long-term observational study examines the effects of cochlear implant (CI) surgery on hearing function, health-related quality of life, individual tinnitus burden and psychiatric comorbidities over five years.

Patients and methods Data were obtained shortly before surgery and 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 years after surgery. Patients with postlingual deafness and unilateral cochlear implantation were included into the study (n=21, age range at implantation: 35 to 85 years, mean: 64.69 years). From the 61 patients that had initially been screened for the study, we excluded those who (i.) had received a CI in the second ear or (ii.) had not completed all investigations during the course of the study period. The following test procedures were applied: audiological testing (pure tone audiogram, Oldenburg Sentence Test), standardized and validated questionnaires (Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ), Short Form-36 (SF-36), Oldenburger Inventar (OI), Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ), Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), Allgemeine Depressions Skala (ADS-L), Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD)).

Results Hearing function, health-related quality of life, individual tinnitus burden and perception of worries all improved significantly within the first year after cochlear implantation. Five years later, these results are still stable.

Discussion  A clear improvement was observed in almost all studied domains within the first year after cochlear implantation. These extremely positive outcomes remain stable in the following years and thus confirm the long-term success of cochlear implantation.

Publication History

Article published online:
12 May 2023