Preoperative Hearing Aids Improve Outcomes of Cochlear Implantation

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the effects of preoperative auditory rehabilitation using hearing aids in patients with prolonged hearing deprivation. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 204 patients who underwent cochlear implantation surgery at age >60 years using a single university hospital database. In total, 135 patients with a duration of deafness (DoD) >10 years were divided into three groups according to perioperative hearing aid use: unaided (n=22, 16.3%), aided (n=92, 68.1%; comprising 22 ipsilateral hearing aid users and 70 bilateral hearing aid users), and contralateral-only aided (n=21, 15.5%). We identified the highest postoperative sentence recognition score (Max_S) and compared this measure across groups. RESULTS: Max_S was significantly higher in the DoD