Mobile and Landline Telephone Performance Outcomes among Telephone-Using Cochlear Implant Recipients

Objective. To objectively study mobile and standard landline telephone speech perception performance using cochlear implant recipients.

Study Design. Nonrandomized trial.

Setting. Tertiary referral center.

Subjects and Methods. Twenty-five subjects enrolled in this study from a pool of 50 cochlear implant recipients who had participated in an earlier questionnaire study from which demographic data were gathered. Preoperative speech perception scores were collated from preoperative audiological data. Postoperative speech perception scores were calculated with subjects listening to the Australian Version of the Bamford-Kowal-Bench Sentence Test read aloud in a soundproof booth via live voice, played back on a speaker, on a standard landline and mobile phone. Telephone speech perception scores were analyzed and banded into 3 performance categories: very good (90%-100%), good (80%-89%), and fair (<80%).

Results. The mean speech perception scores were 88.6% (SD, 14.3%) for postoperative recorded speech and 92.3% (SD, 10.7%) for live voice listening, which were significantly better than the mean score of 37.2% (SD, 29.1%) listening to recorded voice preoperatively. The mean speech perception score was 84.3% (SD, 20.7%) using a mobile telephone and 57% (SD, 29.4%) using the standard landline. Further analysis showed better performance with mobile phones over standard landlines. Seventy-six percent of subjects attained at least good telephone speech performance (score >80%). Older patients had poorer telephone speech perception than younger patients did.

Conclusions. Many cochlear implant recipients achieve good objective telephone speech perception performance, indicating that they should be effective telephone users, especially when using mobile telephones and among younger implant recipients.