Does cochlear implantation affect personality of hearing-impaired patients? A five-year follow-up study.

Background: Previous studies found that in patients with profound hearing loss the NEO- personality factor Openness-to-experience is lowered.

Objective: Assuming that lowered Openness-to-experience may be due to limited access to sounds, we hypothesized that levels of Openness-to-experience would increase in these patients after cochlear implantation.

Material And Methods: Twenty adults (mean age: 61 years; active CI users) with bilateral profound hearing loss were assessed with the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory before cochlear implantation (pre) and five years later (post).

Does Cochlear Implantation Affect Openness-to-Experience in Profound Postlingual Hearing Loss?

Recent studies suggest that hearing loss in postlingually deafened adults may be associated with lowered levels of the personality factor Openness to experience. This study investigated whether cochlear implantation in postlingually deafened adults raises the level of Openness to experience. Fifty-five postlingually deafened adults (mean age: 63 years) were assessed with the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI), a questionnaire capturing the five personality factors Extraversion, Openness to experience, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.

Cochlear implantation in adults with single-sided deafness: generic and disease-specific long-term quality of life.

Purpose: To determine the 2-year outcome of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adults who received a cochlear implant (CI) for single-sided deafness (SSD).

Methods: Twenty adults (mean age at implantation: 47 ± 11 years) with SSD (PTA worse ear: 113 dB HL, PTA better ear: 14 dB HL) were administered the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ), and the Health Utility Index 3 (HUI 3). Questionnaire administration occurred before cochlear implantation and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after implant activation.

Do Personality Factors Assessed Before Cochlear Implantation Predict Hearing-Related Quality Of Life After Cochlear Implantation in Postlingually Deafened Adults?

Background: Studies have shown that cochlear implants improve deaf patients' hearing-related quality of life (hrQoL), but the degree of improvement varies considerably between patients. This study investigated whether personality factors contribute to hrQoL outcome after cochlear implantation.

Method: Fifty adult patients with postlingual hearing loss who received a unilateral cochlear implant were administered the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; a personality inventory) and the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ; a hrQoL questionnaire).