Factors influencing rehabilitation outcomes in prelingually deafened
late implanted cochlear implant users and development of a nomogram
Abstract
Objectives: Our study aimed to identify potential factors that influence
rehabilitation outcomes in late-implanted adolescents and adults with
prelingual deafness and attempted to develop a reliable nomogram.
Design: This retrospective study included 120 subjects less than 30
years of age who had received cochlear implantation at a single medical
center. The Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) scale was used to
evaluate the rehabilitation outcomes. A nomogram was constructed using
the R and EmpowerStats software. Results: Univariate analysis indicated
higher rates of auditory performance improvement in younger aged
subjects. Residual hearing and regular and longer implant use were more
common among subjects showing auditory performance improvement.
Multivariate analysis identified residual hearing (Hazard Ratio, 6.11;
95% Confidence Interval, 1.83-20.41; P<0.01), age at
implantation (Hazard Ratio, 0.31; 95% Confidence Interval, 0.14-0.83;
P=0.02) and regular CI use (Hazard Ratio, 7.79; 95% Confidence
Interval, 2.50-24.20; P<0.01) as independent predictors for
auditory performance improvement. The nomogram’s predictive performance
was satisfactory as verified by the calibration curve and Receiver
operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Conclusions: We demonstrated that
residual hearing, younger age, and regular CI use were associated with
auditory performance improvement in this cochlear implant user
population. Our nomogram model demonstrated satisfactory predictive
performance for this population.