Time course from cochlear implant surgery to non-use for congenitally deaf recipients implanted as children over ten years ago.

Objective: To determine the time-course from first cochlear implantation to non-use, to characterise non-users' receptive and expressive communication, and document known risk factors for inconsistent use, for congenitally deaf non-users of cochlear implants implanted as children at least ten years ago.

Methods: Retrospective service evaluation. All congenitally deaf patients who received a first cochlear implant as children at least ten years ago at a regional service, and were currently non-users, were identified.

Telehealth rehabilitation for adults with cochlear implants in response to the Covid-19 pandemic: platform selection and case studies.

Background: Effective information giving and goal setting before cochlear implantation and individualised rehabilitation following implantation are both crucial for shaping patients' expectations and optimising outcomes. The Covid-19 pandemic led to temporary cessation of face to face clinic appointments. This created a need for telehealth rehabilitation for adults whose hearing loss presents unique communication challenges.

Systematic review of outcome domains and instruments used in designs of clinical trials for interventions that seek to restore bilateral and binaural hearing in adults with unilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss ('single-sided deafness').

Background: This systematic review aimed to identify, compare and contrast outcome domains and outcome instruments reported in studies investigating interventions that seek to restore bilateral (two-sided) and/or binaural (both ears) hearing in adults with single-sided deafness (SSD). Findings can inform the development of evidence-based guidance to facilitate design decisions for confirmatory trials.

Methods: Records were identified by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.

A data collection system to audit post-newborn hearing surveillance programme: problems and possibilities.

Background: Guidance documents on post-newborn hearing surveillance and screen (Sutton et al.2006; Bamford et al. 2007) indicated the need for a wider system to identify children with hearing loss after neonatal hearing screening.

Audit of local performance compared with standards recommended by the national guidelines for aetiologic investigation of permanent childhood hearing impairment.

Background: National guidelines for aetiologic investigation of childhood deafness were developed as the Newborn Hearing Screening Program (NHSP) was being implemented in the United Kingdom. This guidance document was expected to be incorporated into the operational procedure of the NHSP.

Method: This criterion-based audit compared local care set against developed guidelines that can be used to assess the appropriateness of specific investigations, services and outcomes.