노인 언어습득 후 고도난청 환자의 인공와우 이식 후 말 지각 능력 변화

Objective: To assess changes in the speech perception ability of patients (≥65 years) with cochlear implantation. Subjects Methods: 26 patients with cochlear implantation at the Seoul Veterans Hospital; all patients suffered from profound hearing loss. Cochlear implant users were recorded before implantation and after operation with speech processor. The speech assessment of patients (monosyllabic word, bi-syllabic word and sentence test) were done at the 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperative follow-up intervals. Results: The significant improvement in speech understanding was demonstrated in performance scores using bi-syllabic words and sentences at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after cochlear implantation, compared with pre-implantation. Especially Bi-syllabic word perception score was higher than other test score at all time. Conclusions: The elderly population showed significant improvement in auditory performance tests following cochlear implantation compared to their pre-implantation, and the improvement appeared remarkably within 6 months with speech processor. (J Clinical Otolaryngol 2015;26:48-52)