Effectiveness of computer-based auditory training for adult users of cochlear implants

Abstract

Abstract

Cochlear implantation is effective at restoring partial hearing to profoundly deaf adults, but not all patients receive equal benefit. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a computer-based self-administered training package that was designed to improve speech perception among adults who had used cochlear implants for more than three years. Eleven adults were asked to complete an hour of auditory training each day, five days a week, for a period of three weeks. Two training tasks were included, one based around discriminating isolated words, and the other around discriminating words in sentences. Compliance with the protocol was good, with eight out of eleven participants completing approximately 15 hours of training, as instructed. A significant improvement of eight percentage points was found on a test of consonant discrimination, but there were no significant improvements on sentence tests or on a test of vowel discrimination. Self-reported benefits were variable and generally small. Further research is needed to establish whether auditory training is particularly effective for identifiable sub-groups of cochlear-implant users.

Sumario

La implantación coclear es efectiva para restaurar desde una alteración parcial de la audición hasta una sordera profunda en adultos, pero no todos los pacientes reciben el mismo beneficio. El presente estudio evalúa la efectividad de un paquete de entrenamiento computarizado y auto-administrado que se diseñó para mejorar la percepción del lenguaje en adultos que han utilizado implantes cocleares por más de tres años. Se le pidió a once adultos que completaran una hora de entrenamiento auditivo cada día, cinco dóas por semana, por un peróodo de tres semanas. Se incluyeron dos tareas de entrenamiento, una basada en la discriminación de palabras aisladas y la otra en discriminación de palabras en medio de frases. El cumplimiento del protocolo fue bueno, con ocho de quince participantes que completaron aproximadamente 15 horas de entrenamiento, como se instruyó. Se encontró una mejoría significativa de ocho puntos porcentuales en una prueba de discriminación de consonantes, pero no existió una mejoría significativa en las pruebas de frases o en la prueba de discriminación de vocales. Los beneficios auto-reportados fueron variables y generalmente pequeños. Se requiere investigación adicional para establecer si el entrenamiento auditivo es particularmente efectivo en subgrupos identificables de usuarios de implantes cocleares.

Key words:

• Cochlear implants
• Auditory training
• Auditory learning

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an MRC studentship awarded to the first author, and by a grant from Deafness Research UK (ref 406:YOR: PS). Preliminary results were presented at the Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses, Lake Tahoe, USA, July 2007. We thank the cochlear-implant users who took part and Tim Folkard who developed the training software. We thank the four anonymous reviewers whose comments helped us to improve this paper.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.