Referring adults for cochlear implants: The new 60/70 rule

Perth audiologist Dr Cathy Sucher presenting on the new 60/70 rule for cochlear implant referral at the 26th ACAud inc. HAASA Congress. Image: Prime Creative Media. When should hearing care practitioners refer adults for cochlear implant evaluation? Dr ROB EIKELBOOM and Dr CATHY SUCHER detail a simple Australian guide....

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Australian audiologists and hearing practitioners should be aware of the proposed 60/70 referral rule as a locally adapted alternative to the US-derived 60/60 rule, but this is congress-presented expert opinion — await formal published guidelines before changing referral thresholds.

Updating cochlear implant referral criteria to reflect Australian speech-testing practices and broader candidacy (including asymmetric and single-sided deafness) could meaningfully reduce under-referral of adults who would benefit from implantation.

1. 01The 60/70 rule is proposed as an Australian adaptation of the US-origin 60/60 cochlear implant referral guideline.
2. 02The original 60/60 rule was based on the better-hearing ear and unaided word scores — metrics not standard in Australian clinics.
3. 03Australian practice uses phoneme-correct scoring and evaluates each ear separately, requiring a locally calibrated threshold.
4. 04The new rule also aims to capture broader candidacy, including asymmetric hearing loss and single-sided deafness (SSD).
5. 05The proposal was presented at the 26th ACAud inc. HAASA Congress by Dr Cathy Sucher and Dr Rob Eikelboom — not yet peer-reviewed.