Article
Indication criteria for cochlear implants and hearing aids: new approaches
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Published: | July 6, 2010 |
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Outline
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Introduction: The indication criteria for cochlear implants and hearing aids are extended with ongoing technical progress and clinical experience. Thus, it is important to identify prognostic factors for CI performance.
Methods: The investigation which was introduced into our clinical routine includes postlingually deafened adults who were seeking for a cochlear implant. Prior to surgery the subjects were tested without hearing aid and with an optimally fitted hearing aid simulated with the Master Hearing Aid (MHA) system [1]. Therewith the Freiburg Speech Test and the Oldenburg Sentence Test were performed. To assess linguistic skills the Text Reception Threshold (TRT) Test was accomplished. Mental status, SES and subjective hearing were assessed through a questionnaire. After surgery, the Freiburg Speech Test and the Oldenburg Sentence Test were repeated with the cochlear implant.
Results: So far complete data sets of 52 CI subjects are available. Significant correlations between preoperative test results like TRT-Test (r=–0.41), Olsa with simulated hearing aid (r=0.69) and SES (r=–0.47) and postoperative speech reception threshold in the Olsa with CI were found.
Conclusion: Between TRT-Test resp. SES and – if available – MHA supported speech reception threshold and speech perception with cochlear implant high correlations were found. These tests seem to have a good predictive validity for speech perception with CI.
References
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- Grimm G, Herzke T, Berg D, Hohmann V. The Master Hearing Aid: A PC-based platform for algorithm development and evaluation. Acta Acustica united with Acustica. 2006;92(4): 618-628.