Music Enjoyment and Listening Time in Cochlear Implant Recipients: The Role of Audiometric Performance

Cochlear implants (CIs) provide remarkable speech rehabilitation in individuals with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. In this study, we investigate if speech outcomes are associated with music enjoyment and listening habits.

Cross-sectional.

Tertiary academic center and community.

Implantees were recruited from a tertiary academic medical center and via community outreach. CI-aided audiograms and word recognition scores (WRSs) were obtained. Participants completed an online survey rating music enjoyment and time spent listening to music on 10-point Likert scales. Multiple linear regression was performed to assess the relationship between pure-tone average (PTA) and WRS in the implanted or non-implanted ear and self-rated music enjoyment and music listening habits.

Seventy-two implantees participated, including 25 bilateral users, 27 bimodal users (one CI and one hearing aid), and 20 unilateral implantees with no contralateral device. Participants had on average 29.9 years since their hearing loss diagnosis, and 7.5 years of implant experience. Neither PTA nor WRS of either ear was significantly associated with self-rated music enjoyment. In contrast, both PTA (β = -.13, P = .0075) and WRS (β = .034, P = .037) of the CI-aided ear were significantly correlated with time spent listening to music; there was no similar association with hearing ability of the non-implanted ear.

CI-aided hearing ability, but not hearing in the non-implanted ear, significantly influences music listening habits for CI users. Thus, optimizing hearing and speech outcomes is important for both communication and music listening.