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Updated: Jun 13, 2025
Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Does cochlear implantation affect personality of hearing-impaired patients? A five-year follow-up study
Franz Muigg1, Philipp Zelger1, Josef Seebacher1
1University Hospital for Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Background:
Previous studies found that in patients with profound hearing loss the NEO- personality factor Openness-to-experience is lowered.
Objective:
Assuming that lowered Openness-to-experience may be due to limited access to sounds, we hypothesized that levels of Openness-to-experience would increase in these patients after cochlear implantation.
Material And Methods:
Twenty adults (mean age: 61 years; active CI users) with bilateral profound hearing loss were assessed with the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory before cochlear implantation (pre) and five years later (post).
Results:
No significant pre-post changes in personality were seen. Both before and five years after cochlear implantation, the sample had normal age- and gender-specific mean values on the factors Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (T ≈ 50), but significantly lowered mean values on Openness-to-experience (T ≈ 42, p < 0.001).
Conclusions And Significance:
Cochlear implantation apparently has no (or at best very little) effect on Openness-to-experience in profoundly hearing impaired patients. While this study demonstrates once again, that high-grade hearing loss may be associated with less openness to new experiences, the reason for this association remains unclear.
