Objectives: To determine the speech perception
levels of cochlear implant patients and to evaluate
the possible effects of implant type, duration of deafness,
and bacterial meningitis on the patients’ hearing
performance.
Patients and Methods: A three-section test battery
on speech perception was administered to 21 cochlear
implant patients (12 males, 9 females; mean age 25
years; range 9 to 40 years). The patients’ performance
was assessed with respect to single- or multi-channel
implant design, duration of hearing loss, and etiologic
factors of hearing loss.
Results: The overall mean success score was 74.6
(range 49-100). No significant difference was found
between patients using single- or multi-channel
implants. The mean score of 12 patients whose duration
of hearing loss was below the average (8.2 years)
was significantly higher than those of nine patients
with a longer history of hearing loss (85.7 versus 59.6,
p=0.001). Patients with meningitis-associated hearing
loss exhibited a significantly lower performance than
those presenting with other etiologic factors (61.9 versus
84.1, p=0.001).
Concl u s i o n: Early diagnosis and rehabilitation are
essential to achieve better performance following
cochlear implantation.
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Anahtar Kelimeler: Koklear hastalıklar/cerrahi; koklearimplant; sağırlık/rehabilitasyon; konuşmayı algılama.