Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 18, 2026
Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
[The Freiburg monosyllable word test in postoperative cochlear implant diagnostics]
M Hey1, G Brademann2, P Ambrosch2
1Audiologie, Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie des Universitätsklinikums Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Kiel, Deutschland. hey@audio.uni-kiel.de.
Background:
The Freiburg monosyllable word test represents a central tool of postoperative cochlear implant (CI) diagnostics.
Objectives:
The objective of this study is to test the equivalence of different word lists by analysing word comprehension. For patients whose CI has been implanted for more than 5 years, the distribution of suprathreshold speech intelligibility outcomes will also be analysed.
Patients And Methods:
In a retrospective data analysis, speech understanding for 626 CI users word correct scores were evaluated using a total of 5211 lists with 20 words each.
Results:
The analysis of word comprehension within each list shows differences in mean and in the kind of distribution function. There are lists which show a significant difference of their mean word recognition to the overall mean. The Freiburg monosyllable word test is easy to administer at suprathreshold speech level for CI recipients, and typically has a saturation level above 80 %.
Conclusion:
The Freiburg monosyllable word test can be performed successfully by the majority of CI patients. The limited balance of the test lists elicits the conclusion that an adaptive test procedure with the Freiburg monosyllable test does not make sense. The Freiburg monosyllable test can be restructured by resorting all words across lists, or by omitting individual words of a test list to increase the reliability of the test. The results show that speech intelligibility in quiet should also be investigated in CI recipients al levels below 70 dB.
