Self-assessment of unilateral and bimodal cochlear implant experiences in daily life

Elke M. J. Devocht*, A. Miranda L. Janssen, Josef Chalupper, Robert J. Stokroos, Herman Kingma, Erwin L. J. George

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective

The subjective experiences were assessed of cochlear implant (CI) users either wearing or not wearing a hearing aid (HA) at the contralateral ear.

Design

Unilateral CI-recipients were asked to fill out a set of daily-life questionnaires on bimodal HA use, hearing disability, hearing handicap and general quality of life.

Study sample

Twenty-six CI-recipients who regularly use a contralateral HA (bimodal group) and twenty-two CI-recipients who do not use a HA in the contralateral ear (unilateral group).

Results

Comparisons between both groups (bimodal versus unilateral) showed no difference in self-rated disability, hearing handicap or general quality of life. However within the group of bimodal listeners, participants did report a benefit of bimodal hearing ability in various daily life listening situations.

Conclusions

Bimodal benefit in daily life can consistently be experienced and reported within the group of bimodal users.

Original languageEnglish
Article number0242871
Number of pages21
JournalPLOS ONE
Volume15
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Dec 2020

Keywords

  • QUALITY-OF-LIFE
  • CONTRALATERAL HEARING-AID
  • SPEECH RECOGNITION
  • RESIDUAL HEARING
  • ADULTS
  • BENEFITS
  • SCALE
  • USERS
  • STIMULATION
  • PERCEPTION

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