Both adults under the age of 60 and over the age of 60 with severe-to-profound hearing loss who received a cochlear implantation experienced significant improvements in cognitive abilities, speech perception and quality of life, a study finds.
A Spanish study found significant improvements in cognitive abilities in adults both under and over 60 years of age who had a severe-to-profound hearing loss 12 months after cochlear implantation. Also, speech perception and quality of life improved after cochlear implantation in both age groups. Finally, depression scores also decreased significantly.
In the study, age was strongly associated with the post-implantation cognitive outcomes. Among the participants aged 60 or older, the improvement in quality of life was positively correlated with cognition.
About the study
63 people who received a cochlear implantation participated in the study. 28 cochlear implant users were less than 60 years old and 35 were 60 years or older.
The study was conducted in the Departments of Otorhinolaryngology at La Paz University Hospital and Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
The purpose of the study was to measure the change in cognition, the improvement of speech perception and the subjective benefit in people under and over 60 years following cochlear implantation and to assess the relationship between cognition, demographic, audiometric and subjective outcomes in both age groups.
The study, “Effect of cochlear implantation on cognitive decline and quality of life in younger and older adults with severe‑to‑profound hearing loss”, was published in the journal European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology.
Sources: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ and the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology.