Child- and Environment-Related Factors Influencing Daily Cochlear Implant Use: A Datalog Study

To understand the varying levels of daily cochlear implant (CI) use in children, previous studies have investigated factors that may be of influence. The objective of this study was to investigate the degree with which new child-related and environment-related characteristics were associated with consistent CI use.

The design of this study was retrospective. Data were reviewed of 81 children (51% females, mean age 6.4 years with a range of 1.3 to 17.7 years) who received a CI between 2012 and 2019. Developmental status, quantified burden of comorbidity, hearing experience, and hearing environment were investigated for correlation with consistency in daily CI use. The CIs datalog was used to objectively record the wearing times. Associations were examined using univariate correlation analyses and a linear regression analysis.

On average, the CI was worn 8.6 hr per day and 59% of the children wore it more than 8 hr daily. The latter children's hearing performance was significantly higher than that of the others. Consistency in CI use correlated significantly with the child-related characteristics chronological age, nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class, pre CI acoustic experience, CI experience, and one of the environment related characteristics "parental communication mode." In a multivariate linear regression model, consistency in CI use was significantly dependent on nonverbal IQ and parental communication mode. These together accounted for 47% of the variation in daily CI use.

The findings indicate that children with lower nonverbal IQ scores and low exposure to oral communication by their parents are at risk of inconsistent CI use.