Assessment of quality of life and associated factors in adult cochlear implant users.

Abstract

We investigated the effectiveness of cochlear implantation (CI) by using a self-rated quality of life questionnaire and a speech perception test. Thirty-two adults with postlingual deafness who had received a CI more than 1 year previously were enrolled. The disease-specific QOL measure, Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ), was translated into Japanese. The pre-and postoperative scores on the NCIQ were compared. The satisfaction level with the CI was also evaluated after the surgery. In the NCIQ, the largest postoperative improvement was found in the score for basic sound perception subdomain, followed by that in those for advanced sound perception, social interaction, activity, and self-esteem. A strong correlation was found between the overall QOL score and the phoneme recognition performance. Personal attributes did not influence the QOL score. The satisfaction level with the CI was affected by the speech perception score, social interaction and the activity subdomains of QOL. To study the effect of CI, comprehensive assessment, including the results of objective evaluation of speech perception and self-rated QOL, was important. NCIQ was found to be useful to evaluate the subjective outcome and QOL change in adult users of CI.