Evaluation of Loudness Perception Performance in Cochlear Implant Users
Soheila Nikakhlagh1, Nader Saki1, Majid Karimi2 , Saeed Mirahmadi2, Mohammad Reza Rostami2

1Associated professor of otolaryngology, Head and neck surgery, Hearing and Speech Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2Audiologist, Apadana clinical research center

Abstract: Loudness perception plays pivotal role in speech perception. Intensity-difference limen (IDL) is the best index of loudness perception ability. This study aimed to compare loudness perception performance of subjects who wear cochlear implant and normal-hearing listeners at frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz. In this cross sectional study, IDL was performed on nine postlingually cochlear implanted patients with mean age of 31.77±6.6 and 17 controls with mean age of 32.76±6.5 years. Following a training period (eight sessions on the average), the cochlear implant users were re-evaluated by the same test. Data were analyzed with statistical package of SPSS (version 18) using independent and paired t-test assessments. In the initial tests, intensity-difference limens of cochlear implant users was significantly poor when compared with that of normal-hearing controls at all test frequencies (p<0.05). The mean IDL of cochlear implant users after training period, was significantly improved (p<0.05). The results demonstrated that patients with cochlear implant have some ability of loudness perception that can be significantly improved through regular training.

Keywords: Cochlear Implant; Loudness Perception; Intensity- Difference limen

[ HTML Full Text]

Back to TOC