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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Cochlear Implant Surgery and Electrically-evoked Auditory Brainstem Response Recordings in C57BL/6 Mice
Published on: January 9, 2019
Impact of cochlear implants on the functional health status of older adults
Howard W Francis1, Nelson Chee, Jennifer Yeagle
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. hfrancis@jhmi.edu
Objectives:
To assess the impact of cochlear implantation on quality of life changes in older adults aged 50 years and above.
Study Design:
Retrospective study by questionnaire and chart review.
Methods:
Forty-seven patients aged 50 to 80 years (mean age, 63.4 y [SD = 8.6 y]), who have multiple-channel cochlear implants received at The Listening Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital, completed the Ontario Health Utilities Index Mark 3 survey and a questionnaire on quality of life changes. Health utility scores before and after cochlear implantation were measured, and audiologic data before implantation and at 6 months and 1 year after implantation were analyzed.
Results:
Cochlear implantation in older adults is associated with a mean gain in health utility(P <.0001) of 0.24 (SD = 0.33), which corresponds to a favorable cost-utility of $9530 per quality-adjusted life-year. Improvements in hearing and emotional health attributes were primarily responsible for this increase in health-related quality of life measure. There was a significant increase in speech perception scores at 6 months after surgery (P <.0001 for both CID sentence and monosyllabic word tests) and a strong correlation between the magnitude of health utility gains and the postoperative increase in speech perception scores (r = 0.45, P <.05).
Conclusions:
Cochlear implants have a significant impact on the quality of life of older deaf patients, and are a cost-effective intervention in this population. Improvements in speech perception are predictive of gains in health-related quality of life and associated emotional benefits after cochlear implantation.
