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ERIC Number: EJ1145918
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-May
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Auditory Environment across the Life Span of Cochlear Implant Users: Insights from Data Logging
Busch, Tobias; Vanpoucke, Filiep; van Wieringen, Astrid
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v60 n5 p1362-1377 May 2017
Purpose: We describe the natural auditory environment of people with cochlear implants (CIs), how it changes across the life span, and how it varies between individuals. Method: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of Cochlear Nucleus 6 CI sound-processor data logs. The logs were obtained from 1,501 people with CIs (ages 0-96 years). They covered over 2.4 million hr of implant use and indicated how much time the CI users had spent in various acoustical environments. We investigated exposure to spoken language, noise, music, and quiet, and analyzed variation between age groups, users, and countries. Results: CI users spent a substantial part of their daily life in noisy environments. As a consequence, most speech was presented in background noise. We found significant differences between age groups for all auditory scenes. Yet even within the same age group and country, variability between individuals was substantial. Conclusions: Regardless of their age, people with CIs face challenging acoustical environments in their daily life. Our results underline the importance of supporting them with assistive listening technology. Moreover, we found large differences between individuals' auditory diets that might contribute to differences in rehabilitation outcomes. Their causes and effects should be investigated further. From learning language in a noisy nursery to tea time at the retirement home, different stages of life are characterized by different environments. Each of these comes with particular learning tasks and social interactions. For 360 million people with hearing loss (World Health Organization, 2015), the environment also provides acoustical challenges that can jeopardize learning and social participation. This holds true for those who perceive sounds through a cochlear implant (CI).
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States; Netherlands; Switzerland; Spain; New Zealand; Malaysia; Hong Kong; France; India; Germany; Canada; Belgium; Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A