The objective was to examine the relationship between phonological processing skills and speech recognition outcomes after cochlear implantation in adults with acquired hearing loss, using both pre- and post-implantation measures.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Pre-implant phonological processing assessments may help predict cochlear implant speech recognition outcomes in adults with acquired hearing loss, but clinicians should await primary studies with standardized protocols before routinely adding these assessments to CI candidacy evaluations.
Identifying cognitive-linguistic predictors of cochlear implant success could refine candidate selection and counseling, ultimately improving post-implant outcomes for adults with acquired hearing loss.
- 01Systematic review in Cochlear Implants International examining phonological processing as a predictor of CI outcomes.
- 02Focus is exclusively on adults with acquired (post-lingual) hearing loss — not congenitally deaf individuals.
- 03Stronger phonological processing skills appear associated with better post-implant speech recognition.
- 04Findings could inform pre-surgical counseling and candidate selection criteria for cochlear implantation.
- 05Methodological heterogeneity across included studies limits strength of conclusions.
Phonological processing skills are positively associated with speech recognition outcomes after cochlear implantation in adults with acquired hearing loss.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42555813
- DOI
- 10.1080/14670100.2026.2702719.
- Journal
- Cochlear Implants International
- Publication type
- systematic_review
- Evidence level
- 1a
- Population
- Adults with acquired (post-lingual) hearing loss who received cochlear implants
- Intervention
- Assessment of phonological processing skills prior to or following cochlear implantation
Primary outcomes
Speech recognition performance following cochlear implantation; Association strength between phonological processing measures and CI outcomes