Einflussfaktoren auf das Sprachverstehen nach CI-Versorgung: Hat der Bildungsgrad der Patienten einen Einfluss auf das CI-Outcome?

The postoperative hearing performance that can be achieved with a cochlear implant (CI) is very individual and depends on many factors. These include the etiology, such as cause of deafness and duration of auditory deprivation, as well as the daily processor usage. These factors have already been investigated. It can be assumed that there are other factors that can contribute to hearing success with a CI. To date, there have only been a few studies on the extent to which socio-economic factors influence hearing success with a CI. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of the level of education of CI users on postoperative speech perception. In total, 326 patients with a mean age of 58.6 years (min/max 20.2/92.2 years) were included in the study. The data collection was retrospective in the period of November 2021 to December 2022. A “Work and Life” questionnaire specially developed for clinical routine was used for evaluation of different socio-economic parameters. Within the questionnaire, the level of education of the patients was documented, including the type of school attended, as well as the educational and professional qualifications of the patients. In addition, the preoperative monosyllabic speech perception with hearing aids was evaluated. Furthermore, postoperative speech perception after 6 and 12 months CI experience measured with the Freiburg monosyllabic word test and the Oldenburg Sentence Test (OlSa) was documented. The results showed a significant difference of outcome depending on the types of school. Patients, who attended regular school showed a better speech perception in quiet in pre- and postoperative results, than patients who attended a school for hearing impaired/for the deaf. There was also a difference in the results regarding the professional qualification. Patients with a university degree showed a better postoperative speech perception in quiet than patients with a vocational school degree. The results showed no differences between the graduation degrees of the CI users. Clinical routine has shown that the hearing performance with the CI is very individual. Many factors need to be taken into account when predicting the postoperative hearing success. Socio-economic factors may have an influence on the hearing performance with the CI.