Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2025
Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Outcomes of Cochlear Implantation in Age Subgroups of Veterans Over 50 Years Old
Gabrielle T Petito1, Siddhant H Tripathi1, Reena Dhanda Patil1,2
1Department of Otolaryngology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH.
Objective:
This study aimed to determine whether there was a difference in postoperative Arizona Biomedical (AzBio) speech recognition scores in 2 differently aged subgroups of veterans 50 years and older after cochlear implantation (CI).
Study Design:
Retrospective chart review.
Setting:
Tertiary referral center.
Patients:
Seventy-one patients aged 50 to 74 years (younger cohort) were compared with 56 patients aged 75 years and older (older cohort) at the time of CI.
Interventions:
Patients underwent therapeutic CI.
Main Outcome Measures:
Comparison of AzBio speech recognition test scores in a quiet environment between the 2 differently aged cohorts of veterans 50 years and older.
Results:
Despite no significant differences in preoperative AzBio score between the younger (mean 22.2%) and older cohorts (mean, 17.3%; P > 0.05), when examining the 6- and 12-month postoperative time points, the older cohort had significantly lower mean AzBio scores (50%, 55.8%; P < 0.05) than the younger cohort (69.8%, 71.9%; P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
All patients aged >50 years experienced significant improvement in speech recognition scores following CI, although the cohort of ages 50 to 74 years scored significantly higher in later follow-up visits. These findings suggest that CI should be offered to appropriate candidates, regardless of age, although earlier intervention may be more advantageous.
