Abstract
Cochlear implantation is considered the only means of improving audiologic performance in deaf patients and was performed successfully at many facilities. However, adequate speech perception could not be restored for some patients despite a favorable prognosis being made preoperatively. This is because it is difficult to make an accurate prognosis of patients' speech perception after implantation. We investigated the speech perception in patients who had received cochlear implants and discussed the involvement of various factors relating with improvement of speech perception. Multivariate regression analysis was used to analyze these factors and preoperatively predict improvement in the perception after cochlear implantation. We used data of 63 patients three obtained to six months after implantation using Fukuda video speech audiometry. The ten factors considered to affect patients'speech perception included age at the time of implantation, sex, side of the implantation, cause of hearing loss, period of hearing loss, period of deafness, number of electrodes inserted, lip-reading ability, data of promontory stimulating testing and data from character testing. Among them, only the period of hearing loss and period of deafness showed significant correlation with improvement in patients' speech perception. The number of electrodes inserted, lip reading ability and data from the character test showed no clear correlation with speech perception, but, these factors had an interesting relationship with speech perception. Factors of the promontory stimulating test had no correlation with speech perception. Multivariate regression analysis of these factors showed that prognostic diagnosis of patients' speech perception after cochlear implantation is difficult.
