RBANS-H in Older Patients Before and After Cochlear Implantation: A Protocol for a Prospective Study

The speech reception in noise is assessed by means of the Leuven Intelligibility Sentences Test (LIST) using an adaptive procedure. This speech material is developed to quantify the speech understanding in subjects with severely impaired hearing. The frequency spectrum of the noise signal is equal to the long-term average speech spectrum of the sentences. The level of the noise is fixed at 65 dB SPL, while the level of the speech signal is altered depending on the response of the patient. Each list consists of ten sentences and the speech reception threshold (SRT) is calculated as the mean level of the last five sentences together with the level of the imaginary 11th sentence of the list. This speech in noise test is performed both pre- and postoperatively in an aided, free field situation with the loudspeaker in front of the subject at a distance of one meter.

NCIQ is a self-assessment health-related quality of life instrument developed for use in CI users. The questionnaire consists of sixty questions divided into three principal domains: Physical, Psychological and Social. The first domain comprises three subdomains, namely Basic sound perception, Advanced sound perception and Speech production. The Psychological domain contains the subdomain Self-esteem and the Social domain handles questions about Activity limitations and Social interactions. Each subdomain covers ten statements. Each statement is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 'Never' to 'Always'.

The RBANS-H assesses five cognitive domains (Immediate Memory, Visuospatial/constructional, Language, Attention and Delayed Memory). The test consists of twelve subtests and the score on each subtest contributes to one of the five domains.

The best-aided thresholds with hearing aid(s) and/or cochlear implant (CI) are measured through free field audiometry with warble tones. The loudspeaker is placed at a distance of one meter in front of the subject at ear level.

Speech reception in quiet is measured using Dutch open-set word lists. Each list consists of twelve monosyllabic words (consonant-vowel-consonant) of which one is a training item. One list is presented at 65 dB SPL in free field (aided, pre- and postoperatively) with a loudspeaker at 0° azimuth. The speech recognition score is the percentage of correctly identified phonemes.

The SSQ12 is a short form of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing scale. It is developed for use in clinical research and rehabilitation settings to measure a range of hearing disabilities across several domains such as speech in noise, speech in speech, localization, distance and movement, segregation and listening effort. The twelve items of this questionnaire are rated on a visual analog scale from 0 to 10 and the overall score is calculated by taking the average of the scores on these twelve items.

To detect states of depression and anxiety the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is used. This self-assessment questionnaire consists of seven items in the subscale Depression and seven items in the subscale Anxiety and distinguishes clearly between both emotional disorders.

The HISQUI19 is a 19-item questionnaire to quantify the degree of self-perceived auditory benefit experienced by CI users in everyday communication situations. The 19 items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from always (99%) to never (1%). To calculate the overall score the corresponding numerical value of each item (from always = 7 to never = 1) is added. Uncompleted items and the response option 'not applicable' correspond to 0 in this calculation. A total score of less than 30, 30 to 59, 60 to 89, 90 to 109 and 110 to 133 is respectively classified as a very poor, poor, moderate, good and very good self-perceived auditory benefit. The validated Dutch version of the questionnaire is used.