Objective: To examine the speech recognition benefit of bilateral cochlear implantation over unilateral implantation in adults aged over 50 years old, and to identify potential predictors of successful bilateral implantation in this group.
Design: Retrospective cohort study using data collected during standard clinical practice. Bilateral performance was compared to the unilateral performance with the first and second implanted ear and examined in relation to potential predictive variables.
Study sample: Sixty-seven cochlear implant users who received a second implant after the age of 50 years old.
Results: Participants obtained significantly greater speech recognition scores with the use of bilateral cochlear implants compared to the use of each individual implant. The score obtained with the first implanted ear was the most reliable predictor of the score obtained with the second and with bilateral implants.
Conclusions: Older adults can obtain speech recognition benefits from sequential bilateral cochlear implantation.
Keywords: Bilateral cochlear implants; adults; elderly; speech perception.