Cochlear implantation (CI) improves mental health and quality of life in older people, according to the latest studies in which members of the Spanish Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (SEORL-CCC) participated. Recent research ensures that unilateral CI recipients show improved quality of life in the 12 months following surgery.
It is estimated that after the age of 60, hearing declines at a rate of 1 decibel per year, with greater loss observed in men than in women. Furthermore, the World Health Organization warns that more than 25% of people over the age of 60 have disabling hearing loss.
On the occasion of World Cochlear Implant Day, celebrated on February 25, SEORL-CCC asks to raise awareness about age-related hearing loss and recalls that more and more such surgeries are being performed on people over 75 years of age, since then no There is a maximum age for cochlear implantation.
Candidates for this device must meet the following conditions: health condition compatible with surgical intervention, sufficient cognitive ability to benefit from the implant, and commitment to carrying out programming and rehabilitation. For patients with hearing loss, a cochlear implant can improve age-related cognitive decline.
Another previous study concluded that CIs improve quality of life, general cognitive status (memory, attention, language), and mental health (anxiety and depression). However, only 10% of the 267,000 people with profound hearing loss in Spain receive information about CI, warns the White Paper on Cochlear Implants in Adults and Older People.
In Spain, there are approximately 19,500 people receiving cochlear implants, 60% of whom are adults, according to the Association of Cochlear Implant Associations in Spain (AICE).
Among the new features of cochlear implantation is the possibility of measuring the length of the cochlea to choose the most appropriate electrode guide for each case. This seeks to make stimulation with the implant as similar as possible to natural hearing.
On the other hand, the possibility of individually determining the length of the implant allows the treatment of complex cases, such as implants in inner ear malformations, infections such as meningitis or various diseases that change the structure of the cochlea.
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