Cochlear implantation and quality of life in postlingually deaf adults: long-term follow-up.

Abstract

To investigate long-term quality of life (QoL) in postlingually deaf adults after entering the cochlear implantation (CI) program. Follow-up study from 1998 onwards in tertiary university medical center. Long-term CI users, patients who have not received a CI, and relatively short-term CI users were re-evaluated six years after initial data collection in 1998 by using three questionnaires (NCIQ, HUI3, and SF36) and speech perception tests. In general, the beneficial effect of CI remained stable during long-term follow-up, though scores on the questionnaires decreased slightly. Outcomes before and after cochlear implantation were significantly different. The group without a CI demonstrated slightly decreasing trends in outcomes. Long-term speech perception performance improved in time. This is the first study to investigate long-term follow-up of CI patients, in all aspects of QoL combined with speech perception performance, in comparison with postlingually deaf adults without CI.