Comparison of different mobile telephones in Combi40 + users

Abstract

Conclusion. Telephone usage is a difficult challenge for cochlear implanted patients. A significant number of cochlear implanted patients are able to carry on a land-line or mobile telephone conversation. The telephone model may be a critical factor for telephone performance. Objectives. The goals of this study were to evaluate speech discrimination through land-line and mobile telephones in Combi40 + users, and to compare different mobile telephone models to find out which could be more advisable for them. Patients and methods. Eighteen Combi40 + implantees were tested with CID sentences and bisyllabic words presented through land-line and mobile telephones, in both quiet and noisy environments. Results. Mean scores for telephonic speech discrimination were over 85% for CID sentences and 28–59% for bisyllabic words. The Siemens M55 was superior to the other mobile telephones tested.

Keywords:

• Cochlear implant
• Combi40+
• telephone
• mobile telephone
• hearing loss
• speech discrimination