Telephone speech comprehension with use of the nucleus cochlear implant

The reported telephone usage by cochlear implant recipients has become a major issue of controversy. Although patients and clinicians report good communication skills via the telephone, no standardized tests have been used and no quantifiable results have been reported. In an effort to determine the extent to which our better-performing patients can use the telephone, we established a clinical protocol to assess their ability to recognize speech, taking into consideration the problems inherent in telephone testing. Eight cochlear implant recipients were administered the NU-6 Monosyllabic Word Test and the City University of New York Topic Related Sentences under the following listening conditions: soundfield in a soundproof suite and via telephone within the hospital, locally, and long-distance. Twenty-three percent of the patients implanted at New York University Medical Center demonstrated a significant degree of telephone communication ability.