Spatial hearing in cochlear implant (CI) rehabilitation – an underestimated indicator of success?

Introduction In CI rehabilitation, therapy goals, which the patients want to achieve, are set together with the patients in the therapeutic setting. Besides understanding speech, spatial hearing is an important indicator of a successful therapy outcome for patients. Currently, spatial hearing is only partially represented in audiological measurements in the standard of care for CI follow-up, so expert assessment by speech and language therapists (SLTs) is essential for setting therapy goals. With our study, we compare the subjective assessment of spatial hearing competence by patient and therapist.

Method For a sample of 30 patients fitted with at least one CI at the Hörzentrum Düsseldorf, the assessment of spatial hearing competence was collected via a clinic-specific questionnaire. The treating therapists (n= 4) also assessed this for the respective patients. Furthermore, questionnaires on hearing and general quality of life (HISQUI-19, SF-36) as well as sound and speech audiometric data were collected at the time of testing.

Results The expert questionnaire revealed that in some cases SLTs do not assess spatial hearing due to lack of observation during the course of therapy. Overall, patients are often rated as competent when other performance skills (e.g. speech audiometry) are high. Patients themselves often rate their competence lower, especially in localizing sounds and voices in noise.

Conclusion An assessment of spatial hearing competence supports the holistic view of the outcome of CI fitting. Subjective and objective assessment can complement each other and be equally helpful in formulating therapy goals.

Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie/ZIM (Förderkennzeichen 16KN069229)

Publication History

Article published online:
12 May 2023