COCHLEAR IMPLANTATION PREVALENCE IN ELDERLY

Current paper describes an experience of cochlear implantation in elderly. Cochlear implantation has become a widely accepted intervention in the treatment of individuals with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. Cochlear implants are now accepted as a standard of care to optimize hearing and subsequent speech development in children and adults with deafness. But cochlear implantation affects not only hearing abilities, speech perception and speech production; it also has an outstanding impact on the social life, activities and self-esteem of each patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cochlear implantation efficacy in elderly with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. There were 5 patients under our observation. Surgery was performed according to traditional posterior tympanotomy and cochleostomy for cochlear implant electrode insertion for all observed patients. The study was conducted in two stages: before speech processor’s activation and 3 months later. Pure tone free field audiometry was performed to each patient to assess the efficiency of cochlear implantation in dynamics. The aim of the study was also to evaluate quality of life in elderly with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss after unilateral cochlear implantation. Each patient underwent questioning with 36 Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). SF-36 is a set of generic, coherent, and easily administered quality-of-life measures. The SF-36 consists of eight scaled scores, which are the weighted sums of the questions in their section. Each scale is directly transformed into a 0-100 scale on the assumption that each question carries equal weight. The eight sections are: physical functioning; physical role functioning; emotional role functioning; vitality; emotional well-being; social role functioning; bodily pain; general health perceptions. Our results demonstrate that cochlear implantation in elderly consistently improved quality of life and enhance the efficiency of audiologic rehabilitation.

cochlear implantation, ageing, speech processor, pure tone free field audiometry, quality of life

1. World Health Organisation. World Health Organisation Prevention of Blindness and Deafness (PBD) Program. Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Impairment. Grades for Hearing Impairment. URL: http://www.who.int/pbd/ deafness/hearing_impairment_grades/en/index.html.

2. Zagoryanskaya M.Ye., Rumyantseva M.G. Russian Otorhinolaringology, 2007, suppl, pp. 134–139 (in Russian).

3. Daikhes N.A., Orlova O.S., Tarasova G.D. Russian Otorhinolaringology, 2003, no. 3, pp. 55–61 (in Russian).

4. Altman Ya.A., Tavartkiladze G.A. Manual on Audiology. Moscow, DMK Press Publ., 2003. 360 p. (in Russian).

5. Lin F.R., Chien W.W., Lingsheng Li, Clarrett D.M., Niparko J. K., Francis H.W. Cochlear implantation in older adults. Medicine, 2012, 91, pp. 229–241.

6. Litvak M.M., Starokha A.V., Machalov A.S., Balakina A.V. Russian Otorhinolaringology. 2012, no. 3 (58), pp. 70–73 (in Russian).

7. Lorio M. Relationships among generations in ageing society. Current problems of aging population in the world: tendencies, prospects, relationships among generations. Moscow, MAX Press Publ., 2004, 229 p. (in Russian).

8. Rosset E. Ageing of population. Moscow, Statistica Publ., 1969, 256 p. (in Russian).

9. Sanderson W.S., Scherbov S. A new perspective on population ageing. European Demographic Research Papers, 2005, no. 3.

10. Litvak M.M. et al. Freefield audiometry during cochlear implant fitting in children. Cochlear implants international, 2010, vol. 11, suppl. 11, pp. 442–443.

11. National Standard of Russian Federation GOST R ISO 82531-2012. Acoustics. Audiometric tests. Part 2. (in Russian).

12. Ware J. E, Snow K.K., Kosinski M., Gandek B. Sf-36 Health Survey. Manuel and Interpretation Guide, Lincoln, RI: Quality Metric Incorporated, 2000. 150 p.

13. Balakina A.V., Litvak M.M., Viktorova N.V. Assessment of quality of life in deaf patients after cochlear implantation: preliminary results. Topical problems of otorhinolaryngology: proceedings of Inter-regional Practical Scientific Conference of Siberian and Far East otorhinolaringologists. Blagoveschensk, 2012, pp. 53–57 (in Ruusian).