Subjective benefits reported by adult Nucleus 22-channel cochlear implant users

A questionnaire was mailed to a consecutive series of 23 adult, postlingually deafened, Nucleus 22-channel, cochlear implant recipients and their relatives to evaluate subjective benefits of cochlear implantation. All implantees had used their device for a minimum of 6 months. Responses were received from 20 implantees (87%) and 17 relatives (74%). Substantial improvements were reported by the respondents in speech recognition with lipreading, voice quality, independence, and communication confidence. Slightly less benefit was noted in speech recognition without lip reading. Respondents noted an increased recognition of environmental sounds and a reduction in tinnitus. Overall, 85% of implantees and 94% of their relatives were moderately to very satisfied with the device, and most indicated that they would recommend the device for others. Satisfaction correlated well with independence and confidence. Poor correlations were found between satisfaction and objective scores of sentence recognition, both in audition-only and audition-plus-vision conditions.