Speech perception and functional benefit after multichannel cochlear implantation

This study was done to investigate the effect of a multichannel cochlear implant on speech perception and the functional benefit of cochlear implantation in Finnish-speaking postlingually deafened adults. Fourteen subjects were enrolled. Sentence and word recognition were studied with open-set tests auditorily only. One year after implantation, the listening performance was assessed by case histories and interviews. Before implantation for subjects with a hearing aid, the mean recognition score was 38% for sentences and 17% for words. One year after switching on the implant, the mean recognition score was 84% for sentences and 70% for words. Before implantation, the majority of the subjects were not aware of environmental sounds and only a few were able to recognize some environmental sounds. One year after switching on the implant, the majority of the subjects were able to use the telephone with a familiar speaker. All the subjects were able to recognize speech auditorily only and had thus gained good functional benefit from the implant.