Cochlear implants could benefit the minds and moods of older patients as well as improving hearing, a new study has found. Benefits were seen in the social activity, thinking and overall quality of life of people, aged 65 to 85, provided with the devices.
Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital researchers in Paris examined 94 patients between the years 2006 and 2009. Three examinations were taken of the 94 subjects - before they received the device, and six and 12 months after implantation.
Cognitive functions were seen to improve in the 12 months following the implantation of the devices. Patients receiving the hearing aids also experienced a drop in feelings of depression, researchers discovered.
Around 59 percent of the patients examined in the study exhibited no symptoms of depression before receiving the cochlear implants, and that number rose to 76 percent a year after receiving the device. As patients start to lose the ability to hear, depression can often begin to set in, as subjects start to feel cut off from people around them. Of 37 subjects in the study with abnormal cognition scores, 30 experienced improved cognition 12 months after implantation.
Cochlear implants not only increase the volume of sounds, but also aid in making conversation more detailed and clear, assisting people in understanding words being spoken. They work by bypassing damaged areas of the ear, sending electrical signals directly to the auditory nerve, where they travel to the brain.
The cost of these devices can run up to $20,000, but they are covered by many insurance policies. Traditional hearing devices are much less expensive, but they are not suitable for some patients suffering from hearing loss. Surgery is also required to install cochlear implants, making the devices less common than simple hearing aids.
"When you outgrow conventional hearing aids, that's when you're a cochlear implant (candidate). Many patients who are using hearing aids now will do better with a cochlear implant," Colin Driscoll, chair of otorhinolaryngology at the Mayo Clinic, said.
Improvements in speech recognition were witnessed in both noisy and quiet conditions. Cognitive abilities in those with the highest initial performances were not improved on average.
Future research will examine the effect of cochlear implants on cognitive decline in greater detail than was possible in the initial investigation.
Around 58,000 American adults and 38,000 children were implanted with the devices by the end of 2012. Globally, 324,000 people have received the device, mostly in wealthier nations, due to the price of the implants.
Study of the role of cochlear implants on improving mental characteristics in subjects was profiled in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.
Photo: Jerry Michalski | Flickr
