Rates of long-term cochlear implant use in children

Objective: To determine the rate of long-term cochlear implant (CI) use in children. Study Design: Consecutive case series. Setting: Tertiary referral center. Patients: Approximately 474 Patients younger than 18 years who received a first CI from 1999 to 2011. InterventionS: Cochlear implantation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Regular CI use, defined as using the CI for 8 hours or greater per day. Results: We successfully contacted and obtained follow-up data on 402 Patients (85%) via email, telephone, and postal survey. The rate of regular CI use was 93.2% (95% CI, 90.0-95.4) at 5 years postimplantation and 87.7% (95% CI, 82.9-91.3) at 10 years postimplantation. The mean number of hours of use per day was 12.0 hours (SD, 4.1 h). Cox proportional hazard regression analysis demonstrated a linear association between the age at implantation and the risk of discontinuing regular CI use. Rates of CI discontinuation increased by 18.2% per year of age at implantation (95% CI, 7.2%-30.4%). Reported reasons for CI use less than 8 hours per day include poor hearing benefit (53.2%), social pressure (21.3%), and recurrent displacement of the transmitter coil (17.0%). Conclusion: High rates of regular CI use are sustained after childhood implantation, and younger age at implantation is associated with a higher rate of continued device usage.