Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2014

Document Type

Capstone Project

Degree Name

Au.D.

Program

Audiology

Advisor

John P. Preece

Subject Categories

Speech Pathology and Audiology

Abstract

The aging population is increasing rapidly, and in this group hearing loss is one of the most common disabilities. For those with severe to profound impairment, which occurs in approximately 10% of this population, conventional amplification often fails to provide adequate benefit. In these cases, a cochlear implant is indicated. The literature on cochlear implantation in older adults has shown that it offers significant speech perception and quality of life benefits to this population. However, it remains controversial despite ample research demonstrating these benefits, due to concerns about surgical complications and reduced benefit due to aging processes. Much literature also compares this population to younger adults, with a roughly equal number finding significant differences in speech perception performance as not. This review is the most comprehensive to date on this subject, and looks at the literature analyzing both speech performance and quality of life benefits of cochlear implantation in older adults.

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